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MONUMENTS 
OF  THE  EARLY  CHURCH 


A  HANDBOOK  OF  CHEISTIAN 
ABCH^OLOGY 


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AND    ANTIQUITIES 

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MONUMENTS 


OF 


THE    EARLY    CHURCH 


WALTER    LOWRIE,   M.A. 

LATE   FELLOW   OF   THE   AMERICAN    SCHOOL   OF   CLASSICAL 
STUDIES   AT   ROME 


Nero  fork 
THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 
1901 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1901, 
By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


TCorfoooH  ^press 

J.  S.  Cushing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  ft  Smith 
Norwood  Mass.  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

This  volume  is  designed  to  give  a  general  view  of  the  monu- 
ments of  the  early  Church,  comprising  in  its  scope  all  branches 
of  Christian  art  and  archaeology,  and  treating  each  of  them  as 
completely  as  is  possible  within  the  limits  of  a  handbook. 

It  is  designed  also,  in  behalf  of  students  who  may  wish  to 
pursue  the  subject  further,  to  provide  a  general  introduction 
to  the  archaeology  of  the  early  Christian  period.  To  this  end 
it  is  hoped  that  the  Bibliography  will  be  found  useful. 

This  book  deals  expressly  with  the  monumental  remains 
of  Christian  antiquity,  and  only  incidentally  with  the  early 
literature  which  illustrates  the  same  period  and  the  same 
subjects.  It  gives  a  detailed  exposition  of  many  of  the 
most  representative  monuments,  especially  of  those  which 
are  reproduced  in  the  accompanying  illustrations.  There  is 
included  only  so  much  of  a  more  general  nature  as  is  neces- 
sary to  define  the  point  of  view  from  which  the  monuments 
of  early  Christian  art  must  be  regarded,  or  to  summarize  the 
historical  inferences  which  may  be  drawn  from  them. 

The  author  has  confined  himself  scrupulously  to  the  well- 
defined  aud  soundly  assured  results  of  this  study,  and  has 
endeavored  to  eliminate  questions  of  a  controversial  character. 

The  period  covered  by  this  study  extends  from  the  second 
to  the  sixth  century  inclusive.  The  interest  of  this  period  to 
the  secular  student  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  represents  the  last 
phase  of  Graeco-Roman  art  and  civilization,  and  reveals  at  the 
same  time  a  new  artistic  impulse  which,  after  remaining 
dormant  for  centuries,  was  destined  to  germinate  in  another 
soil  and  appear  again  in  the  more  familiar  art  of  the  Middle 
Ages.     The  religious  interest  of  the  period  is  of  course  still 


vi  PREFACE 

greater,  whether  to  those  who  trace  back  to  it  their  religious 
forms  and  customs  through  the  medium  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
or  to  those  who  refer  for  their  inspiration  more  directly  to  the 
earl}'  Church. 

It  is  obvious  that  so  compendious  a  work  as  this  must  rely 
upon  the  conclusions  of  scholars  who  have  devoted  themselves 
specially  to  one  or  another  of  the  departments  which  are 
herein  treated.  To  speak  only  of  writers  still  living,  the 
author  is  glad  to  express  his  obligation  to  Mgr.  Joseph  Wil- 
pert  for  all  that  concerns  early  Christian  painting,  as  also 
in  the  matter  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  dress;  to  Professor 
Orazio  Marucchi  for  the  latest  study  of  the  Roman  catacombs ; 
to  Professor  G.  Dehio  for  the  study  of  the  Christian  basilicas ; 
to  M.  Auguste  Choisy  for  the  analysis  of  Byzantine  architec- 
ture; to  Dr.  Heinrich  Holtzinger  for  Christian  architecture 
in  general;  to  Dr.  R.  Forrer  for  the  study  of  textile  art;  and 
to  all  who  have  kindly  consented  to  the  reproduction  of  their 
illustrations.  He  is  under  obligation  also  to  Mr.  Charles  R. 
Morey,  Fellow  of  the  American  School  of  Classical  Studies  in 
Rome,  for  kind  assistance  in  reading  the  proofs. 

Princeton,  N.J., 
April,  1901. 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS 

I.    INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

Relation  of  Christian  to  Classic  Art 1 

Formal  Decline  of  Art  in  the  Early  Christian  Period         ...  4 

Attitude  of  the  Church  toward  Art 5 

Limits  of  the  Early  Christian  Period 6 

Classification  of  Monuments 7 

Distribution  of  Monuments 8 

Eelation  to  Literary  Sources 11 

History  of  the  Study .17 

II.    CHRISTIAN  CEMETERIES 

General  Description  of  the  Catacombs      .....  23 

Nomenclature      ..........  23 

Plan 29 

The  Catacombs  and  the  Arenaria        ......  31 

Exaggerated  Idea  of  their  Extent 32 

Actual  Location  and  Extent 33 

The  Fossors 36 

The  Catacombs  and  the  Titles     .......  37 

The  Christian  Mode  of  Burial     .......  40 

Worship  in  the  Catacombs    ........  43 

Constructions  above  Ground         .......  47 

Public  Character  of  the  Catacombs 47 

The  Area  and  its  Buildings 48 

Surface  Burial 50 

The  Agape        ...........  50 

Legal  Tenure  of  the  Cemeteries         ......  53 

The  Sepulchre  in  Roman  Law 53 

Private  Tenure 54 

Corporate  Tenure  —  the  Burial  Societies 56 

Inscriptions      ...........  62 

Epitaphs 63 

The  Poems  of  Damasus 74 

History  of  the  Catacombs  after  the  Fourth  Century    .         .  77 

vii 


viii  TABLE    OF   CONTEXTS 


III.    CHRISTIAN  ARCHITECTURE 

PAliK 

Introduction 83 


A.     THE  BASILICA 

Meaning  of  the  Name 89 

Various  Views  of  its  Origin 91 

A  Deliberate  Invention 91 

Derived  from  the  Civil  Basilica 92 

Earlier  than  Constantine 93 

Derived  from  the  Schola     ........  94 

Derived  from  the  Private  House 94 

From  the  Palace  Architecture 97 

From  the  Common  House        .......  97 

Origin  in  the  Atrium  of  the  Late  Roman  House      .  .98 

Peristyle  and  Atrium 98 

Analogies  with  the  Basilica 100 

Fundamental  Characteristics  of  the  Basilica  ....  101 

Classical  Elements 102 

Internal  Perspective 104 

Description  of  the  Basilica          .         .         .         .         .         .         .  105 

Plan 105 

Vestibule 106 

Nave 107 

Columns  and  Capitals 108 

Architrave  and  Archivolt 109 

Pillars Ill 

Galleries 112 

Windows 113 

Doors       ...........  115 

Roof 116 

Ceiling 117 

Decoration 119 

Presbyterium       ..........  121 

Transept 124 

Prothesis  and  Diaconicon 126 

Exterior 128 

Fagade 129 

Syrian  Architecture 130 


taiilk  of  <<>xrr:\  IS 


b.    tup:  central  type 

PAGE 

In  General 131 

Round  or  Polygonal  Buildings 135 

Simple  Plan     ...........  135 

Composite  Plan        ..........  139 

The  Dome  from  a  Square  Base 147 

Cross-shaped  Plan  ..........  147 

Oblong  Plan 153 

S.  Sophia 153 


C.     FURNITURE    OF   THE    CHURCH 


Altar  and  Conj 

Ciborium   . 

Chancels  . 

Iconostasis 

Cathedra . 

Ambons 

Baptistery  Furniture 


159 
167 
168 
170 
172 
174 
175 


D.     POSITION  AND   SURROUNDINGS 

Orientation       ...........  176 

Atrium  and  Peribolos    .........  178 

Cantharas 179 

Propylaion  . 180 

Adjoining  Buildings        .........  182 

IV.    PICTORIAL  ART 

Introduction 185 

A.     EARLY   CHRISTIAN   PAINTING 


(Being  the  frescos  of  the  catacombs  and  early  Christian  symbol- 
ism in  general. ) 
Introduction     ...........     187 

(Technic,  divisions  of  the  subject,  character  and  employment 
of  early  Christian  fresco.) 
Early  Christian  Symbolism   ........     193 


x  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAOB 

Symbols  of  Deliverance 198 

Tin-:  Orans 201 

Old  "Testament  Characters 204 

Adam  and  Eve 204 

Noah 205 

Moses 206 

Jonah 207 

Abraham  and  Isaac 208 

Daniel 209 

Susanna 210 

The  Three  Children  and  the  Three  Magi 211 

The  Miracles  of  Christ 213 

Lazarus 213 

The  Blind  Man 213 

The  Woman  with  the  Issue 213 

The  Paralytic 214 

The  Multiplication  of  the  Loaves 214 

The  Good  Shepherd 214 

The  Celestial  Banquet 221 

The  Eucharistic  Banquet 223 

The  Fish 232 

The  Cross  and  the  Monogram 236 

The  Virgin  Mary 245 


B.     SCULPTURE 


Introduction     ...... 

Character  of  the  Monuments 

Sculpture  in  East  and  West 

Themes  New  and  Old  .... 

Portrait  Types  of  Peter  and  Paul 

Sarcophagi        ...... 

In  General 

The  Jonah  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran 
The  Sarcophagus  from  S.  Paul's 
Other  Sarcophagi  in  the  Lateran 
Sarcophagus  of  Junius  Bassus 
The  Similar  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran 
The  Sarcophagi  of  Ravenna 

The  Doors  of  S.  Sabina  at  Rome 

The  Crucifixion       ..... 


247 
247 
248 
249 
251 
252 
252 
256 
257 
263 
264 
265 
268 
270 
276 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS 


>:i 


Ivomr  Carving. 

In  General  . 
The  Box  at  Brescia 
A  Diptych  at  Florence 
Cathedra  of  Maximianus 
Gospel  Cover  from  Murano 
Statues      .... 


PACK 

270 
279 
281 
285 
285 
288 
280 


C.     MOSAICS 


Introduction     ....... 

The  Study  limited  to  Church  Decoration    . 

Technic  of  Floor,  Wall,  and  Ceiling  Mosaics 
The  Constantinian  Mosaics    .... 

S.  Costanza  ...... 

The  Churches  of  Rome,  S.  Peter's 

The  Vine  Pattern 

Themes  of  Apsidal  Decoration     . 

The  Apsidal  Mosaic  of  S.   Pudenziana 

Apsidal  Mosaics  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Centuries 

S.  Paul's,  SS.  Cosma  and  Damiano,  S.  Lorenzo,  S.  Vitale 
Historical  Subjects        ....... 

S.  Maria  Maggiore  —  Arch  and  Nave,  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo 
Mosaics  of  the  Fifth  Century  at  Ravenna 


292 
292 
293 
297 
297 
300 
301 
302 
304 
311 

319 

329 


D.     MINIATURES 

Introduction 333 

The  Paris  Psalter 335 

The  Joshua  Roll 335 

The  Vienna  Genesis 337 

Codex  Rossanensis 338 

Cosmas  Indikopleustes        .........  339 

The  Cotton  Bible  and  the  Cambridge  Evangeliar       ....  339 


V.    THE  MINOR  ARTS 

Eucharistic  Vessels 343 

Lamps 347 

Censers 353 

Divers  Objects 354 

Medals,  Amulets,  Ampullae,  Lead  and  Silver  Objects. 


xii 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS 


eta,  Gold  Glass 


Glass 

Engraved  Glass,  Cut  Glass,  vasa  diato 
I'm    Textile  Art    .... 

Lack  of  a  Thorough  Study  of  Classical  Textiles 

Account  of  the  Discoveries  in  Egypt 

Study  of  the  Egyptian  Finds 
Execution,  Material,  Color. 

Tapestry      ..... 
Three  Periods  of  Design  . 
Early  Classical  Tapestry  . 
Deterioration  in  the  Fourth  Century 
The  Byzantine  Period,  Christian  Themes,  etc 
Importance  of  these  Designs  in  Relation  to  Contemporary  Art 


PACE 

357 


362 
363 
364 
365 

370 

371 
371 
373 
374 

377 


Altar  Cloths  and  Curtains 377 


VI.    CIVIL  AND   ECCLESIASTICAL   DRESS 


In  General        ........... 

Subordinate     Elements     of     Dress,  —  Head-dress,     Foot-gear, 

Breeches 
The  Tunic 
The  Dalmatic  . 
The  P^enula   (Chasuble) 
The  Clamts 
The  Lacerna-Byrrus 
The  Toga  .... 

The  Pallium  and  the  Pallium  Scarf 
The  Stole  and  the  Maniple 


383 


386 
389 
394 
396 
399 
400 
401 
403 
410 


APPENDICES 

SELECT   BIBLIOGRAPHY 415 

INDEX 427 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIG. 
1. 


9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 


Plan  of  part  of  the  catacomb  of  Domitilla 

Marucchi,  Elements  cf  Archeologie  Chretienne,  Tome  2. 
A  cubiculum  in  the  catacomb  of  Callistus,  one  of  the  so-called 
sacrament  chapels        .... 

Reber,  Kunstgeschichte. 
Capella  greca  in  the  catacomb  of  Priscilla  . 

Wilpert,  Fractio  Panis. 
Section  of  the  catacomb  of  Callistus    . 

De  Rossi,  Roma  Sotterranea. 
Crypt  of  S.  Csecilia,  catacomb  of  Callistus  . 

De  Rossi,  Roma  Sotterranea. 
A  crypt  in  Cyrene 

Garrucci,  Storia  deW Arte. 
Fresco  of  the  arcosolium  of  the  fossor  Diogenes,  S.  Callistus 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 
A  sarcophagus  from  the  catacomb  of  Priscilla 

Wilpert,  Fractio  Panis. 
Lead  coffin  from  Phoenicia  .... 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 
Papal  crypt  in  S.  Callistus,  restored   . 

De  Rossi,  Roma  Sotterranea. 
An  arcosolium  in  the  catacomb  of  Cyriaca 

Bull,  crist. 
Tombstone  with  graffito  in  Museo  Kircheriano 

Wilpert,  Fractio  Panis. 
Fresco  in  a  crypt  in  Cyrene 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 
Decoration  in  stucco,  ceiling  of  a  crypt 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 
An  orans,  detail  of  a  fresco  in  S.  Priscilla  . 

Wilpert,  Gottgeweihten  Jungfrauen. 
Sarcophagus  of  Livia  Primitiva  . 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 

xiii 


PAGE 

24 


2G 
28 
31 
33 
34 
36 
41 
42 
45 
48 
51 
55 
57 
60 
62 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


fig. 

17.  Sarcophagus        

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

18.  Tombstone  with  graffito  in  the  Lateran 

Photograph. 

19.  Tombstone  in  the  catacomb  of  Domitilla     . 

Wilpert,  Fractio  Panis. 

20.  Fragment  of  the  monument  of  Abercius 

Wilpert,  Fractio  Panis. 

21.  Loculus  of  a  martyr  in  S.  Domitilla    . 

De  Rossi,  Bull,  crist. 

22.  The  martyrdom  of  S.  Achilleus,  stone  relief 

Garrucci,  Storm  delVArte. 

23.  Inscription  by  Pope  Damasus  in  the  papal  crypt 

Grisar,  Analecta. 

24.  Crypt  of  S.  Januarius,  Catacomb  of  Pretextatus 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

25.  Plans  of  typical  Greek  and  Roman  houses  . 

Dehio  and  v.  Bezold,  Baukunst. 

26.  Plans  of  basilicas 

Dehio  and  v.  Bezold,  Baukunst. 

27.  Plans  of  basilicas 

Dehio  and  v.  Bezold,  Baukunst. 

28.  Plans  of  basilicas 

Dehio  and  v.  Bezold,  Baukunst. 

29.  Plan  of  old  S.  Peter's 

Reber,  Kunstyeschichte. 

30.  View  of  old  S.  Peter's         .... 

Kraus,  Geschichte  der  Kunst. 

31.  Church  in  Babuda,  Syria     .... 

De  Vogti6,  Syrie  Centrale. 

32.  Basilica  in  Turmanin,  Syria,  (facade  restored) 

De  Vogue,  Syrie  Centrale. 

33.  Basilica  in  Turmanin,  Syria,  (apsidal  end) 

De  Vogiie\  Syrie  Centrale. 

34.  Basilica  in  Ruweha,  Syria,  (longitudinal  section) 

De  Vogiie\  Syrie  Centrale. 

35.  Basilica  in  Kalb-Luseh,  Syria,  (section)     . 

De  Vogiie\  Syrie  Centrale. 

36.  Cathedral  of  Torcello,  (interior) 

Holtzinger,  Altchristliche  Architektur. 

37.  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo,  Ravenna,  (interior)  . 

Liibke,  Grundriss. 


PAGE 

63 

64 
68 
70 
71 
74 
75 
76 
99 
102,  103 
104,  105 
107 
109 
110 
111 
112 
111 
116 
117 
119 
121 


LIST   OF   I  LLC  ST  RATIONS 


fig.  PAGE 

38.  S.  Maria  in  Cosmetlin,  Rome,  (interior  restored)        .        .        .     122 

Giovenalc,  S.  Maria  in  Cosmetlin. 

39.  Cathedral  of  Parenzo 125 

Photograph. 

40.  Apse  of  the  basilica  Severiana,  Naples 127 

De  Rossi,  Bull,  crist. 

41.  Restored  basilica  ot  IS.  Paul,  Rome,  (interior)    ....     128 

Photograph. 

42.  Stone  windows 130 

Various  sources. 

43.  Plans  of  buildings  of  central  type,  simple  plan   ....     135 

Dehio  and  v.  Bezold  and  others. 

44.  Plans  of  buildings  of  central  type,  composite  plan       .         .     138,  139 

Dehio  and  v.  Bezold  and  others. 

45.  Early  Christian  capitals 140,  141 

Holtzinger,  Altchristliche  Architektur. 

46.  Church  of  S.  George,  Ezra,  Syria,  (longitudinal  section)    .        .     144 

De  Vogue,  Syrie  Centrale. 

47.  Plans  of  Byzantine  churches 145 

Dehio  and  v.  Bezold,  Baukunst. 

48.  S.  Vitale,  Ravenna,  (interior) 146 

Photograph. 

49.  The  mausoleum  of  Galla  Placidia,  Ravenna,  (exterior)       .        .     148 

Photograph. 

50.  The  mausoleum  of  Galla  Placidia,  Ravenna,  (interior)       .        .     149 

Photograph. 

51.  The  church  of  S.  Sophia,  Constantinople,  (interior)  .        .        .     154 

Photograph. 

52.  Plans  of  S.  Sophia  and  the  basilica  of  Maxentius        .        .        .     155 

Dehio  and  v.  Bezold,  Baukunst. 

53.  The  mausoleum  of  Theodoric,  Ravenna 157 

Liibke,  Grundriss. 

54.  Altar  from  S.  Qu6nin 159 

De  Fleury,  La  Messe. 

55.  Altar  with  confessio  in  S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro,  Rome  .        .        .161 

Holtzinger,  Altcfu-istliche  Architektur. 

56.  Altar  with  fenestella  in  S.  Alessandro,  Rome     ....     162 

De  Fleury,  La  Jlesse. 

57.  Chancels  of  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  Rome      ....     169 

Mazzanti,  Scultura  ornamentale. 

58.  Chancel  in  S.  Clemente,  Rome 170 

De  Fleury,  La  Jlesse. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


in,, 
■v.>. 

60. 

61. 

02. 
03. 
64. 
05. 
GO 
07. 


09. 

70. 
71. 


74. 

75. 
70. 


PAGE 

Ambon  in  Thessalonica 174 

De  Fleury,  La  Messe. 
Cantharus  formerly  in  atrium  of  S.  Peter's        ....     179 

De  Rossi,  Bull,  crist. 
Basilica  with  peribolos  in  Etaweha,  Syria   .....    181 

De  Vogu6,  Syrie  Centrale. 
Complex  of  church  buildings  at  el  Barah,  Syria  .        .         .     182 

De  VoguV.  Syrii  Centrale. 
Church  of  S.  Simon  Stylites,  Kalat-Senian,  Syria       .         .        .     183 

De  Vogii6,  Syrie  Centrale. 
Orans  in  palla,  fresco  in  S.  Callistus 202 

Wilpert,  Gewandung  der  Christen. 
Orans  in  dalmatic,  fresco  in  S.  Callistus     .....     203 

Wilpert,  Gewandung  der  Christen. 
Orans  in  girdled  tunic,  fresco  in  the  catacomb  of  Thrason  .     204 

Wilpert,  Gexoandung  der  Christen. 
The  vindication  of  Susanna,  fresco  in  S.  Callistus      .        .        .     210 

Wilpert,  Sacramentscapellen. 
The   Epiphany,    fresco   in   the    catacomb  of   SS.    Petrus    and 

Marcellinus  .         .         .         .         .         .         ,         .         .         .211 

Wilpert,  Ein  Cyclus  christologischer  Gemdlde. 
The   Good   Shepherd,    ceiling  fresco   in  the  catacomb  of  SS. 

Petrus  and  Marcellinus 210 

Wilpert,  Geivandung  der  Christen. 
Veneranda  and  S.  Petronilla,  fresco  in  S  Domitilla  .         .         .     222 

Wilpert,  Gewandung. 
Christ  consecrating  the  Eucharist,  fresco  in  one  of  the  Sacra- 
ment Chapels,  S.  Callistus 224 

Wilpert,  Sacramentscapellen. 
Christ  and  the  woman  at  the  well  of  Samaria,  fresco  in  one  of 

the  Sacrament  Chapels,  S.  Callistus     .....     225 

Wilpert,  Sacramentscapellen. 
Baptism  and  the   Eucharist,   fresco  in  one  of  the  Sacrament 

Chapels,  S.  Callistus 226 

Wilpert,  Sacramentscapellen. 
"The  breaking  of  bread,''  fresco  in  the  Capella  greca,  S.  Pris- 

cilla 228 

Wilpert,  Fractio  Panis. 
The  mystic  fish,  fresco  in  the  crypt  of  Lucina     .         .         .     230,  231 

Marucchi,  Elements  cV  Archeologie  Chretienne. 
Carved  gems 233 

Garrucci,  Storia  dell'  Arte. 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAQB 

234 


235 
237 


77.  Carved  gems 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArle. 

78.  Carved  rings 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArtc. 

79.  Coin  of  Apamea 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

80.  Various  forms  of  the  cross  and  the  Constantinian  monogram      .     238 

81.  Coins  of  Constantine 240,  241 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

82.  Coins  of  Nepotianus  and  Galla  Placidia      ....     242,  243 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

83.  Crux  gemmata,  fresco  in  the  catacomb  of  Pontianus  .        .        .     244 

Kraus,  Geschichte  der  Kunst. 

84.  The  Virgin  and  Child,  fresco  in  S.  Priscilla         ....     245 

Wilpert,  Gewandung. 

85.  A  virgin  taking  the  veil,  fresco  in  S.  Priscilla      ....     246 

Wilpert,  Gottgeweihten  Jungfrauen. 

80.   Lid  of  a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran 248 

Photograph. 

87.  Lid  of  a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran 249 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

88.  Fragment  of  a  sarcophagus  from  S.  Callistus      ....     250 

Bull,  crist. 

89.  Lid  of  a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran    ......     250 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

90.  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  bronze  medal  in  the  Vatican        .         .         .    251 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

91.  SS.  Paul  and  Peter,  bronze  medal  in  the  Vatican       .        .        .     251 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

92.  An  orans,  relief  on  a  screen         .......     253 

Wilpert,  Gottgeweihten  Jungfrauen. 

93.  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum 254 

Photograph. 

94.  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum  ......     255 

Photograph. 

95.  Sarcophagus  from  S.  Paul's,  now  in  the  Lateran         .         .        .     256 

Photograph. 

96.  End  of  a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum     .         .         .         .     257 

Beissel,  Bilder  arcs  der  Geschichte  der  Altch.  Kunst. 

97.  Elijah,  fragment  of  a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran       .         .         .     258 

Photograph. 


xviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PIG.  PAGE 

98.  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum 260 

Photograph. 

99.  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum 201 

Photograph. 

100.  Sarcophagus  of  Junius  Bassus 262 

Bom.  Quartalschrift. 

101.  Details  of  the  sarcophagus  of  Junius  Bassus      .         .         .     264,  265 

Beissel,  Bilder  cms  der  Geschichte  der  Altchr.  Kunst. 

102.  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum 267 

Photograph. 

103.  Sarcophagus  of  Theodore,  Bishop  of  Ravenna  ....     268 

Photograph. 

104.  Sarcophagus  in  Ravenna 269 

Photograph. 

105.  106.    Parts  of  the  wooden  doors  of  S.  Sabina,  Rome  .        .     270,  271 

Photograph. 

107.  The  Ascension,  panel  of  the  doors  of  S.  Sabina        .        .        .     274 

Photograph. 

108.  The  Crucifixion,  panel  of  the  doors  of  S.  Sabina       .        .        .     277 

Grisar,  Analecta. 

109.  Ivory  box  in  the  British  Museum 279 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

110.  Sculpture  in  ivory  at  Treves 280 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

111.  Part  of  ivory  box  of  Brescia 282 

Photograph. 

112.  Part  of  ivory  box  of  Brescia 283 

Photograph. 

113.  Ivory  diptych  in  Florence 284 

Photograph. 

114.  Ivory  cathedra  of  Maximianus  at  Ravenna        ....     286 

Photograph. 

115.  Details  from  the  cathedra  of  Maximianus  ....     287 

Photograph. 

116.  Ivory  Gospel  cover,  Ravenna 288 

Photograph. 

117.  Statue  of  the  Good  Shepherd  in  the  Lateran  Museum       .        .     289 

Photograph. 

118.  Statue  of  S.  Hippolytus  in  the  Lateran  Museum       .        .         .    290 

Photograph. 

119.  Bronze  statue  of  S.  Peter  in  the  Vatican 291 

Photograph. 


LIS T   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIG.  PAGE 

120.  Mosaic  pavement  of  apse,  Ancona 294 

Bull,  crist. 

121.  Section  of  mosaic  pavement  in  Parenzo 295 

Lohde. 

122.  Marble  incrustation  in  S.  Sabina 296 

De  Rossi,  Mosaici. 

123.  Inscription  in  mosaic,  S.  Sabina 296 

De  Rossi,  Mosaici. 

124.  Portrait  in  mosaic,  catacomb  of  Cyriaca 297 

De  Rossi,  Mosaici. 

125.  Mosaic  decoration  of  ring  vault  in  S.  Costanza  .         .     298,  299 

De  Rossi,  Jlosaici. 

126.  Sketch  of  the  mosaics  of  the  dome,  S.  Costanza        .         .        .     300 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 

127.  Apsidal  mosaic  in  S.  Pudenziana,  Rome 306 

De  Rossi,  Mosaici. 

128.  Plan  of  Jerusalem,  part  of  mosaic  pavement  of  a  church  at 

Madaba,  Palestine       ........     307 

Marucchi,  in  Nuovo  Bull,  crist. 

129.  Apsidal  mosaic  in  SS.  Cosma  and  Damiano,  Rome  .         .        .     312 

De  Rossi,  Mosaici. 

130.  Mosaic  of  the  arch  of  S.  Lorenzo,  Rome    .....     313 

De  Rossi,  Mosaici. 

131.  Mosaic  in  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe 314 

Photograph. 

132.  The  sacrifices  of  Abel  and  Melchisedek,  mosaic  in  S.  Vitale, 

Ravenna 314 

Photograph. 

133.  Abraham  entertaining  the  angels,  mosaic  in  S.  A'itale       .         .     315 

Photograph. 

134.  The   Emperor  Justinian  carrying  a  votive  paten,   mosaic  in 

S.  Vitale 316 

Photograph. 

135.  The  Empress  Theodora  carrying  a  votive  chalice,  mosaic  in 

S.  Vitale 318 

Photograph. 

136.  Mosaic  of  the  arch  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  Rome        .         .     320,  321 

De  Rossi,  Mosaici. 

137.  Mosaics  in  the  nave  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  Rome      .         .     322,  323 

De  Rossi,  Mosaici. 

138.  Christ  enthroned,  with  angels  and  saints,  mosaic  in  S.  Apolli- 

nare Xuovo,  Ravenna 324,  325 

Photograph. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


L39.    Virgin  and  Child,  with  angels,  Magi,  and  saints,  mosaic  in 

s.  Apollinare  Nuovo,  Ravenna  .....    326,  327 

Photograph. 
L40.    s.  I, ukc,  mosaic  in  S.  Vitale,  Ravenna 328 

Photograph. 

141.  The  Good  Shepherd,  mosaic  in  the  mausoleum  of  Galla  l'la- 

cidia,  Ravenna :j-'!0 

Photograph. 

142.  S.  Ursicinus,  mosaic  in  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe,  Ravenna  .     331 

Photograph. 

143.  Palace  of  Theodoric,  mosaic  in  S.  Apollinare  Nnovo,  Ravenna    332 

Photograph. 

144.  Mosaic  in  S.  George,  Thessalonica 332 

Texier  and  Pullen,  L' Architecture  Byzantine. 

145.  Joshua  and  the  Gibeonites,  miniature  from  the  Joshua  Roll  of 

the  Vatican 333 

Grseven,  in  V Arte. 

146.  Joshua  and  the  men  of  Ai,  miniature  from  the  Joshua  Roll  of 

the  Vatican 334 

Grseven,  in  UArte. 

147.  Pharaoh's  feast  and  Rebecca  at  the  well,  miniatures  from  the 

Vienna  Genesis 336,  337 

Hartell  and  Wickoff,  Die  Wiener  Genesis. 

148.  David,  miniature  from  a  Greek  Psalter  in  Paris        .         .        .     338 

Hartell  and  Wickoff,  Die  Wiener  Genesis. 

149.  Censers 346 

De  Fleury,  La  Messe. 

150.  Terra-cotta  lamps .        .        .     348 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 

151.  Martyr  exposed  to  a  lion,  terra-cotta  lamp        ....     349 

Bull,  crist. 

152.  Terra-cotta  lamp  in  the  form  of  a  fish       .....     350 

Garrucci,  Storia  delV Arte. 

153.  Bronze  lamp  in  the  form  of  a  basilica 350 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArle. 

154.  Bronze  lamp  in  the  form  of  a  sheep  ......     351 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 

155.  Jonah  under  the  gourd,  bronze  lamp 355 

Garrucci,  Storia  delV  Arte. 

156.  Lead  cup  with  reliefs,  from  Carthage 356 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


xx  i 


Fir,.  PAGS 

157.  Lead  cup  from  Carthage,  reliefs  displayed        ....     366 

Garrucci,  Sturin  delVArte. 

158.  Metal  ampulla  in  Monza ?,'>C> 

Garrucci,  Sturin  <h  IF  Art':. 

159.  Bronze  medal 357 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 

160.  Fragment  of  cut-glass  vessel  representing  Biblical  subjects       .     358 

Bull,  crist. 

161.  Silver  box  from  Africa 360,361 

Bull,  crist. 

162.  The  Good  Shepherd,  three  gold-glasses 362 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

163.  Daniel  and  Bel,  Adam  and  Eve,  gold-glasses    ....     363 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

164.  Jonah,  two  gold-glasses 364 

Garrucci,  Storia  deWArte. 

165.  Fish  under  a  gourd  —  Jonah  as  a  type  of  Christ,  a  gold-glass  .     365 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

166.  Daniel  and  Bel.  gold-glass 365 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

167.  Family  portraits,  gold-glasses 366 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

168.  A  cycle  of  miracles  depicted  on  a  gold-glass      .        .         ...     367 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

169.  Bepresentation  of  a  master  carpenter,  a  gold-glass    .         .        .     368 

Garrucci,  Storia  delVArte. 

170.  Segmenta,  classical  designs  in  tapestry      .....     371 

Forrer,  Friihchristlichen  Alterthiimer. 

171.  The  Church  and  the  Empire  united  in  the  suppression  of  evil, 

woven  silk  design        ........     372 

Forrer,  Friihchristlichen  Alterthiimer. 

172.  Virgin  and  Child,  segmentum  in  tapestry  ....     373 

Forrer,  Friihchristlichen  Alterthiimer. 

173.  The  eye,  design  in  tapestry 374 

Forrer,  Friihchristlichen  Alterthumer. 

174.  The  Egyptian  cross,  part  of  a  clavus  in  tapestry        .        .         .     374 

Forrer,  Friihchristlichen  Alterthiimer. 

175.  Beconstruction  of  a  curtain        .......     375 

Swadoba,  Archdologische  Ehrengabe. 

176.  Curtain  in  the  Victoria  Albert  Museum 376 

Photograph. 


xxii  I.isr   OF    ILLVSIllATIOXS 

lie;.  1>AGB 

177.  Part  of  a  clavus  in  silk  embroidery 378 

Forrer,  Fruhchristlichen  Alterthumer. 

178.  Details  of  a  scarf  in  silk  embroidery 379 

Forrer,  Friihchristlichen  Alterthumer. 

17!'.    Portrait  in  tapestry 380 

Forrer,  Friihchristlichen  Alterthumer. 

180.  Tope  Sixtus  I.  and  the  Bishop  Optatus,  fresco  in  the  catacomb 

of  Callistns 397 

Wilpert,  Un  Capitolo  delta  Storia  del  Vestiario. 

181.  Mosaic  in  the  chapel  of  S.  Venantius,  Lateran  Baptistery     404,  405 

l)e  Bossi,  Mosaici. 

182.  Linen  maniple  from  Acbmim 412 

Forrer,  Friihchristlichen  Alterthumer. 


MONUMENTS 
OF   THE   EARLY   CHURCH 


A  HANDBOOK  OF   CHRISTIAN 
ARCHAEOLOGY 


INTRODUCTION 

It  would  be  but  a  bald  definition  of  archaeology  to  say  that 
it  is  the  study  of  ancient  monuments.  Like  every  other  branch 
of  history  its  ultimate  interest  is  not  the  documents  with 
which  it  deals,  but  the  human  story  to  which  they  bear  wit- 
ness. The  story  of  many  ancient  peoples  must  be  traced 
chiefly,  if  not  solely,  in  their  monumental  remains,  and  the 
historian  can  ill  afford  to  dispense  with  archaeology,  be  the 
literary  records  never  so  plenty.  Far  from  being  the  dullest 
branch  of  history,  archaeology  is  one  of  the  most  interesting, 
for  it  serves  to  illuminate  precisely  the  most  intimate  and 
familiar  aspects  of  ancient  life,  depicting  them  most  vividly 
and  most  concretely. 

The  archaeology  of  the  early  Christian  period  is  not  essen- 
tially different  from  any  other  branch  of  the  study,  though  it 
is,  of  course,  marked  by  problems  and  peculiarities  quite  its 
own.  The  most  distinctive  peculiarity  which  need  be  noticed 
is  this,  that  it  is  not  engaged  with  the  totality  of  the  monu- 
ments of  any  people  or  of  any  period,  but  solely  with  those 
which  bear  expressly  the  stamp  of  Christian  inspiration. 
Christianity  was  not  conterminous  with  any  race,  and  the 
existence  of  the  Church  within  the  Empire  did  not  signify 
the  propagation  of  foreign  art  and  custom  in  the  midst  of 
the  regnant  Classical  civilization.  Already  with  the  second 
century  —  the  period  with  which  the  monumental  study  of 
Christianity  begins  —  the  gentile  element  was  so  thoroughly 
predominant  in  the  Church  that  we  need  not  look  for  the  tradi- 
tions of  Jewish  custom  except  in  matters  most  intimately 
associated  with  religion.  The  Jew  had  no  art  to  hand  on  to 
the  Christian,  nor  any  architecture.  The  last  temple  at 
Jerusalem  was  a  Classic  building,  as  the  first  had  been  a 
Phoenician.  Moreover,  the  Jew  throughout  the  Empire  was 
B  l 


2  IXTIiODUCTIOX 

already  as  much  of  a  cosmopolitan  as  he  is  to-day.  A  certain 
aloofness  from  popular  gentile  life,  prescribed  by  his  religion 
and  his  moral  code,  must  not  blind  us  to  the  thoroughness 
of  his  tincture  with  classical  civilization  —  he  spoke  in  its 
language,  he  thought  in  its  philosophy,  he  clothed  himself  in 
its  dress.  The  emperors  were  not  slow  to  recognize  in  the 
Hellenistic  Jew  an  apt  exponent  of  the  imperial  ideal,  and 
they  accorded  him  corresponding  privileges.  In  the  case  of 
the  Jewish  Christians,  as  we  see  already  in  the  Apostolic  age, 
the  ties  of  race  and  the  barriers  of  racial  exclusiveness  were 
still  further  dissolved,  and  in  the  case  of  the  gentile  Christians 
they  did  not  exist  at  all  —  they  stood  apart  from  their  fellow- 
citizens  only  in  matters  which  regarded  religion  and  morality. 

In  general,  one  can  hardly  exaggerate  the  Roman's  success 
(building,  indeed,  in  part  upon  the  work  of  the  Greek)  in  im- 
pressing upon  the  world,  not  only  the  administrative  regime 
of  the  Empire,  but  the  whole  complex  of  Classical  civilization  : 
it  was  in  the  fulness  of  time  Christ  came  and  the  Apostles 
preached.  The  Church  was  a  phenomenon  of  the  Empire,  and 
in  time  of  persecution  no  less  than  in  the  era  of  triumph 
belonged  essentially  to  it.  To  say  that  the  Church  grew  out 
of  the  Graeco-Roman  civilization  (as  though  transcending  it), 
or  grew  up  within  it  (as  an  isolated  entity),  would  be  mislead- 
ing; the  Church  must  be  recognized  as  a  very  part  of  that 
antique  classical  civilization,  and  only  by  inwardly  appropriat- 
ing—  not  by  adoption  but  by  natural  inheritance  —  the  funda- 
mental terms  of  its  life  and  thought,  was  it  able  in  spirit  to 
transform  it. 

If  one  were  bent  upon  the  reconstruction  in  its  totality  of 
Christian  life  in  the  Classical  period,  the  monuments  which 
are  reckoned  to  the  part  of  Classical  archaeology  would  con- 
stitute data  no  less  important  than  those  which  bear  expressly 
a  Christian  character.  And  though  we  must  here  make  com- 
plete abstraction  of  the  common  elements  of  Classical  life, 
we  cannot  ignore  the  fact  that  the  art  which  was  the  most 
distinctively  Christian  in  spirit  was  none  the  less  Classic  in 
form.  It  was  simply  inevitable  that  all  forms  of  decorative 
and  pictorial  art,  of  sculpture  and  architecture,  should  be 
adopted  by  the  Christian  as  he  found  them  ready  to  his  hand. 
We   see  how  thoroughly  he  belonged   to   his   age   when   we 


CLASSIC  AND    CHRISTIAN  AET  3 

note  with  how  little  scruple  he  accepted  them.  He  was  con- 
cerned in  the  first  instance  only  to  eliminate  such  current 
themes  as  were  expressly  idolatrous  or  immoral,  or  to  select 
such  as  could  be  given  a  Christian  interpretation.  This  was 
followed,  of  course,  by  the  development  of  themes  properly 
Christian ;  but  even  in  this  work  the  Christian  artist  could  no 
more  divest  himself  of  the  formal  traditions  of  Classic  art  — 
nor  had  he  any  more  reason  to  do  so  —  than  in  using  the 
Classic  languages  he  could  dissociate  himself  from  the  funda- 
mental modes  of  Classic  thought. 

There  was  no  doubt  also  a  formal  progression  upon  the  old 
lines ;  but  the  antique  traditions  were  so  soon  broken  off  in 
the  general  collapse  of  Roman  civilization  that  we  are  left 
without  any  sound  basis  for  the  speculation  as  to  whether,  or 
in  how  far,  Christian  art  with  a  free  and  interrupted  devel- 
opment might  finally  have  transcended  the  traditional  forms. 
This  speculation,  at  any  rate,  does  not  concern  us  here.  We 
shall  not  trace  the  old  traditions  through  the  petrified  forms 
of  Byzantine  art,  where  they  proved  impotent  for  any  scope 
beyond  symbolism  and  decoration.  It  shall  be  left  to  the 
reader,  with  the  monuments  which  are  here  put  before  him, 
to  reckon  the  influence  of  Classical  Christian  art  upon  art 
Mediaeval :  this  influence  is  to  be  traced  rather  in  the  selec- 
tion of  themes  and  in  the  arrangement  of  scenes  than  in  spirit 
and  technic.  The  Renascence,  which  returned  for  its  inspira- 
tion Classic  art,  had  no  relation  whatever  (except  through  the 
Mediaeval  tradition)  with  the  Christian  phase  of  that  art ;  its 
monuments  were  already  hidden  or  ignored. 

This  Classical  Christian  art  proved  no  less  adequate  to  the 
expression  of  Christian  themes,  and  deserves  no  less  truly  the 
title  of  Christian  art,  than  did  any  which  was  developed  later 
and  on  Christian  soil.  This  art  has  long  been  completely  un- 
known, and  not  even  yet  is  it  popularly  appreciated.  Yet  it 
remains  more  intelligible  to  the  modern  mind,  it  stands  closer 
to  us  in  sympathy,  than  does  the  art  which  stands  nearer  in 
time,  developed  during  the  Middle  Ages  by  men  of  our  own 
stock  and  under  influences  exclusively  Christian.  Classic  art, 
even  in  this  its  Christian  phase,  reflects,  in  its  lucid  ideal  and 
definite  presentation,  the  moderation  and  balance  which  were 
characteristic  of  Classical  civilization  and  thought.     There  is 


4  ix  ruonuCTiON 

fundamentally  bu1  one  art  and  one  reason:  not  a  Christian  art 
and  a  Christian  reason.  The  proof  that  < 'hristian  theology  was 
expressed  in  forms  of  Greek  philosophy  has  been  accounted 
to  the  discredit  of  the  Church.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  the 
signal  advantage  of  Christianity  that  it  could  from  the  begin- 
ning express  itself  in  the  forms  of  Greek  art  and  in  the  terms 
of  Greek  thought;  for  it  wras  true  art  and  right  reason.  The 
normal  authority  which  we  ascribe  to  the  early  age  of  the 
Church  is  justified  not  only  by  the  fact  that  it  stood  close  to 
the  origin  of  the  faith  and  constituted  the  first  expression  of 
Christianity  in  the  world,  but  also  by  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
expression  of  Classical  culture.  The  pagan  Classical  age  is  one 
against  which  many  serious  charges  may  be  brought.  One  may 
be  by  no  means  disposed  to  recognize  the  legitimacy  of  the 
customs  and  theologies  which  sprang  up  on  that  soil.  But  one 
can  hardly  refuse  to  recognize  that  it  was  an  age  which  was 
marked,  as  no  other  has  been,  by  the  general  dissemination  of 
just  criteria  of  reason.  It  is  a  matter  of  no  slight  advantage 
that  the  philosophic  claims  of  Christianity  were  first  expressed 
in  the  Greek  language,  and,  therefore,  in  terms  intelligible  to 
the  world  —  in  terms  which  then  were  comprehensible  to  dis- 
ciples of  Plato,  of  Aristotle,  and  of  Zeno,  and  which  remain 
intelligible  for  all  times. 

One  must  recognize  in  early  Christian  art  two  qualities 
which  are  not  commonly  thought  of  as  compatible  in  the  same 
subject :  it  was  an  art  at  once  nascent  and  decadent.  In  many 
respects  it  wTas  full  grown  when  born,  and  its  decline  dates 
from  its  beginning.  The  highest  expression  which  art  attained 
in  the  Roman  Empire  was  reached  in  the  time  of  Trajan  and 
Hadrian.  Its  decline  during  the  next  two  centuries  is  meas- 
ured upon  the  Arch  of  Constantine  by  the  difference  between 
the  sculptured  reliefs  taken  from  the  demolished  Arch  of 
Trajan  and  those  which  the  first  Christian  emperor  had  exe- 
cuted expressly  for  his  own  monument.  Within  two  centuries 
more  art  lay  almost  prostrate.  We  have  not,  therefore,  in  the 
case  of  Christian  art,  to  look  for  the  rude  essays  which  we 
associate  wdth  all  beginning,  the  effort,  with  little  skill,  to 
match  the  idea  with  the  appropriate  form.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  cannot  trace  in  it  the  keen  progress  upward  which 


THE   CHURCH   AND   MIT  5 

constitutes  the  special  charm  of  the  study  of  early  periods  of 
art.  Christian  art  began  —  so  far  as  we  can  trace  its  monu- 
ments—  with  the  end  of  the  first  century,  that  is  with  the 
most  flourishing  period  of  imperial  art.  It  found  its  forms 
furnished  ready  to  hand.  The  earliest  Christian  artists  were 
technically  the  best;  their  skill  declined  with  the  general 
collapse  of  Roman  art  and  culture. 

The  monuments  reveal  just  such  use  and  appreciation  of  art 
in  the  Church  as  might  be  expected  of  gentiles  who  were  bred 
to  a  taste  for  it  and  found  in  their  new  religion  no  express 
veto  against  it.  Apart,  however,  from  the  extant  monuments, 
and  relying  solely  upon  the  scant  references  in  literature,  one 
would  hardly  form  a  just  conception  of  the  Christian  employ- 
ment of  art  in  the  second  and  third  centuries.  One  might  be 
disposed  rather  to  credit  the  opinion  that  the  early  Church 
set  its  face  resolutely  against  its  religious  use,  and  that  the 
artistic  activity  of  the  fourth  century,  to  which  the  literature 
as  well  as  the  monuments  bear  witness,  was  a  sign  of  the 
worldly  corruption  of  the  Church  under  imperial  favor.  This 
view  was  so  confidently  held  in  Protestant  circles,  and  espe- 
cially in  England,  that  for  a  long  time  credence  was  refused 
to  the  discoveries  of  early  Christian  art  in  the  Roman  cata- 
combs. It  was  a  view  which  rested  fundamentally  upon  a 
strong  religious  prejudice  ;  but  it  seemed  none  the  less  to 
have  some  justification  in  history.  For  it  seemed  not  unrea- 
sonable to  presume  that  the  Mosaic  prohibition  of  pictorial 
art  must  have  been  observed  in  the  Church  as  it  was  in  Islam, 
there  being  the  same  reason  for  it  in  the  keen  struggle  with 
surrounding  idolatry.  And.  in  fact,  the  few  literary  references 
to  art  which  we  have  (in  Tertullian,  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
and  Irenaeus),  though  they  do  not  express  a  condemnation  of 
it,  suggest  distinctly  the  suspicion  of  its  abuse. 

The  Spanish  Synod  of  Elvira  (306  A.D.),  with  its  prohibition 
of  the  pictorial  representation  of  the  divine  Persons  in  the 
churches  (can.  36),  has  been  taken  for  conclusive  evidence  of 
the  general  attitude  of  the  Church.  Eusebius  of  Caesarea.  — 
in  other  respects  no  enemy  of  art.  —  writing,  in  reference  to 
a  picture  of  Christ,  to  Constantia,  sister  of  Constantine  the 
Great,  suggests  the  scruple  that  strangers,  seeing  such  repre- 
sentations, might  suppose  that  the  Christians  carry  about  their 


6  INTRODUCTION 

god  in  a  picture  like  I  lie  idolaters.  It,  is  likely  that  the  same 
fear  of  misunderstanding  prompted  the  canon  of  Elvira;  and 
for  the  faithful  themselves  there  may  have  been  no  little  (lun- 
ger in  the  painting  of  "that  which  is  worshipped  and  adored" 
upon  the  walls  of  the  churches. 

This  utterance,  however,  does  not  represent  the  general  atti- 
tude of  the  Church,  which  continued  with  little  or  no  scruple 
(so  far  as  monuments  reveal)  to  employ  pictorial  art  for  the 
representation  of  religious  themes  and  of  the  divine  Persons. 
The  monuments  show  us,  too,  that  we  have  not  to  think  of  a 
strict  observance  of  the  Second  Commandment  even  on  the 
part  of  the  Hellenistic  Jews.  One  of  the  Jewish  catacombs  in 
Rome  contains  decoration  in  fresco  representing  animal  forms 
such  as  are  found  in  the  Christian  cemeteries.  There  is  similar 
decoration  in  the  Jewish  cemetery  at  Carthage ;  and  in  Tunis 
the  mosaic  pavement  of  a  synagogue  is  entirely  in  Classic 
design,  with  garlands,  fishes,  and  birds.  We  may  admit  that 
such  Jewish  Christian  communities  as  the  Ebionites  probably 
respected  the  mosaic  prohibition.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
among  the  Christians  a  severe  sect  like  the  Montanists  held 
aloof  from  art.  There  were  voices  raised  against  its  religious 
use,  or  abuse,  both  before  and  after  the  iconoclastic  Eastern 
emperors.  But  the  enthusiasm  with  which  art  was  cultivated 
by  the  Catholic  Church  is  sufficiently  demonstrated  by  the 
monuments  themselves,  or  even  by  the  examples  which  are 
illustrated  in  this  book. 

It  is  from  no  point  of  view  an  easy  matter  to  fix  the  limits 
of  the  early  Christian  period,  although  the  question  is  simpli- 
fied when  we  regard  it  with  exclusive  reference  to  the  history 
of  art,  and  recognize  that  the  theme  of  our  study  is  Classic  art 
as  it  was  employed  by  Christians  for  the  expression  of  Christian 
ideals.  From  this  point  of  view  it  is  plain  that  early  Chris- 
tian art  ends  long  before  Mediaeval  art  begins.  Between  the 
two  there  intervenes  a  period  of  about  two  centuries,  a  true 
middle  age,  in  which  Classic  art  was  no  longer  and  Mediaeval 
art  was  not  yet.  It  adds  little  to  our  information  to  follow 
through  this  period  the  merely  static  survival  of  Classic  forms 
in  the  Byzantine  Empire ;  and  it  is  in  no  sense  germane  to 
our  topic  to  study  the  purely  barbaric  art  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 


LIMITS   OF   THE  EARLY'   CHRISTIAN    PERIOD  7 

Celts,  or  Lombards.  Practically,  our  study  begins  with  the 
earliest  extant  monuments  of  a  strictly  Christian  character, 
that  is  with  the  end  of  the  first  century,  and  it  closes  with  the 
development  of  Byzantine  architecture  before  the  end  of  the 
sixth.  It  must  be  remarked,  however,  that  no  single  depart- 
ment of  our  study  covers  the  whole  of  this  period  :  each  branch  of 
art  had  in  some  respects  an  independent  history  and  a  separate 
fate,  originating  later  or  terminating  earlier  than  the  limiting 
dates  which  are  here  assigned  to  early  Christian  art  in  general. 
The  precise  limits  of  the  period  are  of  the  less  importance  to 
our  present  study  because  it  is  rather  on  the  plane  of  descrip- 
tion than  of  narrative,  being  interested  not  so  much  to  trace 
the  origins  of  Classical  Christian  art,  nor  to  follow  its  decay, 
as  to  portray  it  in  its  perfection. 

There  is  needed  here,  by  way  of  introduction,  no  more  than 
the  briefest  survey  of  the  various  classes  of  monuments  with 
which  we  have  to  deal. 

The  early  Christian  painting  which  has  been  preserved  to  us 
is  found  almost  exclusively  in  the  Eoman  catacombs :  it  there- 
fore belongs  to  the  earliest  part  of  our  period,  and  may  be  pre- 
sumed to  have  a  more  or  less  immediate  reference  to  death  — 
or  rather  to  the  Christian  hopes  which  illuminated  it.  The 
themes  of  later  painting  —  especially  in  the  decoration  of  the 
churches  —  can  be  inferred  from  the  mosaics.  On  the  other 
hand,  light  is  thrown  upon  the  study  of  the  mosaics  by  the 
latest  branch  of  painting  which  we  have  to  consider,  namely, 
the  miniature  illustrations  of  the  Bible  text.  The  catacombs 
themselves,  quite  apart  from  the  monuments  of  art  which  they 
contain,  constitute  a  testimony  of  the  highest  importance  both 
for  the  early  age  during  which  they  were  in  practical  use  and 
for  the  later  in  which  they  had  become  objects  of  veneration. 
It  lay  obviously  in  the  nature  of  the  case  that  the  art  of  sculp- 
ture was  not  utilized  as  soon  as  painting  for  the  representation 
of  Christian  themes.  It  is  represented  principally  by  the 
sarcophagi,  which  are  most  abundant  for  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries,  and  were  produced  until  the  seventh,  when  artis- 
tic skill  sank  below  the  level  demanded  for  figured  work. 
The  same  period  is  represented,  and  the  same  history  of  decline 
is  repeated,  in  ivory  and  metal  work.     In  general  the  minor 


8  INTRODUCTION 

arte  followed  the  Peace  of  the  Church,  but  the  manufacture 
of  gold-glass  commenced  toward  the  end  of  the  third  century. 

The  discoveries  in  Egyptian  hurying-grounds  enable  us  to 
follow  the  technic  of  the  textile  industry  from  the  second 
century  to  the  Mahometan  conquest ;  but  there  were  no  dis- 
tinctively Christian  designs  till  the  age  of  the  Church's  pros- 
perity. In  architecture  there  remain  but  few  monuments 
earlier  than  the  Constant  inian  age.  The  churches  built  during 
the  reign  of  Constantine  have  been  destroyed  or  remodelled. 
The  following  century,  however,  furnishes  many  complete 
examples.  With  the  reign  of  Justinian  in  the  sixth  century 
there  was  prodigious  activity  in  the  building  of  churches,  and 
many  edifices  have  been  preserved.  Specially  notable  in  this 
period  is  the  development  of  the  central  type  of  architecture. 

The  history  of  mosaic  art  follows  closely  that  of  architecture, 
of  which  it  was  the  handmaid.  The  mosaic  decoration  has, 
however,  often  been  preserved  when  the  strictly  architectural 
features  of  the  church  have  been  transformed  out  of  all  recog- 
nition. 

Such,  in  the  most  general  terms,  are  the  monuments  which 
we  have  to  study.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  to  the 
archaeologist  each  monument  has  a  many-sided  interest ;  a 
mosiac  painting,  for  instance,  may  be  studied  as  a  part  of 
church  decoration,  or  as  an  example  of  pictorial  art,  or  for  its 
illustration  of  ancient  costume,  of  early  church  doctrine,  or  of 
ecclesiastical  use. 

Local  differences  in  art  due  to  racial  traditions  can  be  but 
barely  noticed  in  this  book.  They  have  not  as  yet  been  suffi- 
ciently studied  ;  in  many  cases  where  we  might  expect  to  note 
them  the  monuments  are  too  rare  to  furnish  the  necessary 
evidence.  In  general  the  monuments  do  not  allow  us  to  forget 
that  they  all  belong  —  in  spite  of  incidental  peculiarities  —  to 
the  broadly  disseminated  culture  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

It  is  in  the  East  especially  we  might  expect  to  notice  the 
influence  of  earlier  art ;  it  is  there,  too,  we  might  expect  the 
greater  abundance  of  monuments;  for  it  was  the  East  — 
especially  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Egypt  —  which  was  the  most 
flourishing  seat  of  Christianity  in  the  third  century  and  even 
later.     But,  as  a  matte*  of  fact,  it  is  particularly  in  the  East 


DISTRIBUTION   OF  MONUMENTS  9 

that  the  monuments  have  been  either  most,  completely  destroyed 

or  least  explored.  Christian  ar1  in  the  Kast  Cell  victim  finally 
to  the  iconoclastic  spirit,  of  [slam.  Valuable  monuments  of 
early  architecture  have  been  here  and  there  preserved  by  their 
adoption  as  mosques,  particularly  in  Constantinople,  Thessa- 
lonica,  and  Jerusalem.  But  already  pictured  art  had  suffered 
much  from  iconoclastic  zeal  in  the  Church  itself.  Many  of  the 
pictures  which  are  venerated  in  Italy  as  original  portraits  or 
miraculous  images  (acheiropoeta)  of  Christ  and  of  the  Virgin 
belong  to  the  Byzantine  art  of  the  seventh  century  and  were, 
doubtless,  transported  for  preservation. 

To  this  general  destruction  Syria  forms  an  important  excep- 
tion, especially  in  view  of  its  architectural  remains.  The  con- 
quest of  Islam  left  the  greater  part  of  it  a  desert,  and  owing  to 
the  admirable  character  of  its  masonry  (and  to  the  fact  that 
little  or  no  wood  was  used)  it  furnishes  the  most  numerous 
and  the  most  perfect  examples  of  the  domestic  and  ecclesiastical 
architecture  of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries ;  and  not  only  in 
its  architecture,  but  in  its  carved  reliefs,  it  bears  witness  to  a 
national  Syrian  school,  which  probably  had  a  wider  influence 
than  any  other  local  art  upon  the  surrounding  peoples. 

The  Holy  Land  —  especially  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem,  but 
in  general  the  whole  of  Palestine  —  was  a  resort  of  pious  pil- 
grimage and  the  site  of  many  churches  of  imperial  foundation, 
due  first  to  Constantine  and  his  mother  Helena,  and  later  to 
Justinian.  Scanty  remains  are  still  left  of  some  of  these 
churches,  though  the  Crusaders  in  their  zeal  for  rebuilding 
showed  little  respect  for  ancient  monuments. 

We  might  expect  in  Egypt  a  very  strong  influence  upon  art 
from  the  ancient  national  traditions  and  the  ancient  monu- 
ments. As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Coptic  churches  have  been 
either  so  thoroughly  destroyed  or  so  fundamentally  altered 
that  hardly  more  of  the  original  than  the  ground  plan  can  now 
be  descried  and  the  textiles  and  small  objects  found  in  the 
graves  present  very  little  which  is  distinctive. 

Asia  Minor  has  as  yet  been  insufficiently  explored.  Archaeo- 
logical study  will  naturally  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  German 
commercial  exploitation  of  the  country,  and  there  is  reason  to 
hope  for  finds  of  great  importance.  How  much  may  survive 
Mahometan  occupation  we  see  in  the  case  of  North  Africa, 


io  ixruonrcriox 

where  French  colonization  has  brought  to  light  many  important 
monuments  of  architecture,  sculpture,  and  the  minor  arts. 

Bui  this  brings  us  already  to  the  West,  where  the  monuments 
are  in  general  more  common,  or  better  known,  and  where  de- 
struction has  been  due  chiefly  to  perverse  activity  in  restora- 
tion. On  the  borders  of  the  Kmpire  monuments  belonging 
strictly  to  our  period  are  for  the  most  part  very  scarce.  In 
England  they  are  almost  exclusively  confined  to  mosaic  pave- 
ments, especially  at  Trempton  and  Horkstow.  In  Spain  they 
are  represented  chiefly  by  sarcophagi ;  in  France  by  sarcophagi 
(at  Aries),  by  a  few  churches  which  are  almost  entirely  rebuilt, 
and  by  rare  specimens  of  the  minor  arts.  In  Germany,  Treves 
is  specially  interesting  for  three  cemeteries  (one  of  them  under- 
ground); numerous  small  objects  and  inscriptions  have  been 
found  also  in  the  Rhine  country.  Outside  of  Italy  it  is  the 
northern  coast  of  the  Adriatic  (Dalmatia  and  Istria),  with  its 
purely  Latin  colonies,  which  proves  the  greatest  activity  in 
artistic  production,  especially  toward  the  sixth  century.  Here 
are  found  architectural  monuments  which  have  lately  been  well 
studied  by  scholars  native  to  the  region  who  are  peculiarly 
zealous  for  their  classical  traditions. 

But  it  is  Italy  itself,  and  preeminently  Rome  and  its  vicinity, 
which  furnishes  the  greatest  number  of  monuments  —  indeed, 
the  majority  of  all  which  have  been  found.  In  Rome  the  very 
activity  of  ecclesiastical  life,  the  fact  that  no  period  has  been 
altogether  lacking  in  additions  and  reconstructions,  has  con- 
tributed to  the  destruction  of  the  monuments ;  but  it  has  also 
served  to  present  an  almost  unbroken  sequence  representing 
nearly  every  department  of  Christian  art.  If  the  monuments 
of  the  Middle  Ages  (both  early  and  late)  have  been  almost 
totally  annihilated  by  the  scorn  of  the  Renascence  for  what  it 
counted  an  age  of  barbarism,  the  earlier  monuments  have  fared 
somewhat  better.  The  student  is,  indeed,  likely  to  be  disap- 
pointed at  first,  for  what  is  left  requires  much  patient  hunting 
out  and  piecing  together;  but,  after  all,  there  are  sufficient 
monuments  in  the  way  of  architecture  and  mosaics  to  repre- 
sent at  least  intelligibly  the  period  of  Byzantine  influence,  the 
more  strictly  Roman  style  of  the  fifth  century,  and  even 
the  Constantinian  foundations.  Sculpture  is  fully  represented 
throughout  this  period  by  sarcophagi,  by  the  wooden  doors  of 


LITER ABY  SOUBGWS  11 

S.  Sabina,  and  by  minor  objects.  For  the  earlier  period  it  is 
Koine  alone,  with  its  catacombs,  which  provides  the  key  for 
the  appreciation  of  the  development  of  Christian  art,  and  of 
the  spirit  with  which  it  was  employed  by  the  Church. 

Sicily  is  interesting  for  its  cemeteries,  especially  the  cata- 
comb of  S.  Giovanni  at  Syracuse.  Naples  also  has  its  primi- 
tive catacomb  of  S.  Gennaro,  and  in  the  Campagna  there  are 
other  cemeteries  of  less  interest. 

In  the  North,  Milan  furnishes  sarcophagi,  ivory  carvings,  and 
churches  of  the'  sixth  century  (very  much  altered) ;  and  Ra- 
venna, with  its  churches,  mosaics,  and  sarcophagi,  splendidly 
testifies  to  the  artistic  interest  and  skill  which  marked  both 
the  Gothic  and  the  Byzantine  rule  at  the  turn  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries. 

In  enumerating  the  monuments  which  specially  distinguish 
each  place  and  period,  it  has  not  been  convenient  to  speak  of 
inscriptions,  because  they  are  to  be  found  throughout  the  whole 
field.  It  is,  however,  in  Rome  and  Italy  that  they  are  by  far 
the  most  numerous ;  the  inscriptions  of  Gaul  stand  next  in 
importance.  In  the  East  they  still,  for  the  most  part,  await 
discovery.  All  but  a  small  fraction  of  our  Christian  inscrip- 
tions are  sepulchral. 

It  need  not  be  said  that  the  study  of  the  early  history  of 
the  Church  is  not  dependent  solely  upon  monuments,  nor  that 
the  study  of  archaeology  itself  is  chiefly  illuminated  by  docu- 
mentary evidence..  It  was  not  a  barbarous,  but  a  literary  age; 
and  whatever  of  the  literature  of  the  Church  —  or  more  espe- 
cially its  official  records  —  may  have  been  destroyed  by  perse- 
cution, the  stable  basis  of  its  history  is  still  a  literary  one. 
But  the  archaeological  study  of  the  monumental  remains  is 
only  the  more  fruitful  for  being  less  than  indispensable;  its 
problems  are  more  readily  and  more  surely  solved,  since  it 
is  hardly  ever  left  without  some  word  of  interpretation  from 
contemporary  writers.  The  literary  sources  which  contribute 
to  fix  our  conceptions  of  Christian  archaeology  cannot,  how- 
ever, be  mentioned  in  this  work ;  it  is  enough  that  we  present 
here  the  sources  of  monumental  evidence.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  the  works  of  the  Fathers  and  the  History  of 
Eusebius,  for  example,  are  indispensable  for  any  study  of  our 


12  INTR  OD  UCTION 

subject,  and  even  for  the  appreciation  of  its  monuments.  The 
comparatively  few  passages  which  may  be  quoted  in  this  book 
do  not  by  any  means  reveal  the  extenl  to  which  the  early 
authors  must  be  depended  upon  in  formulating  the  conclusions 
of  this  science. 

But  there  is  one  class  of  writings  which  si  am  Is  in  so  close 
a  relation  to  archaeological  study,  and  is  of  so  little  importance 
apart  from  it,  that  the  student  may  need  a  special  introduction, 
if  but  a  brief  one. 

It  is  necessary  to  pass  over  with  a  mere  word  a  class  of 
documents  which  were  of  inestimable  importance  to  de  Rossi 
and  to  earlier  students  for  the  location  and  exploration  of  the 
catacombs,  because  the  discovery  to  which  they  conduce  has 
been  all  but  definitely  accomplished.  I  refer  to  the  Roman 
martyrologies  (the  most  important  is  that  which  is  associated 
with  the  name  of  S.  Jerome),  which  are  liturgical  lists  giving 
the  day  of  the  annual  celebration  of  the  death,  deposition, 
or  translation  of  the  saints  who  were  commemorated  by  the 
Church,  naming  also  the  cemetery  in  which  the  body  reposed. 
It  is  the  last  item  which  gives  to  the  martyrologies  their  topo- 
graphical value  in  the  wrork  of  locating  the  catacombs  and 
ascribing  to  them  their  proper  names.  The  Lives  of  the 
Saints  had  a  like  use,  notwithstanding  that  of  the  few  which 
are  strictly  authentic  none  belong  to  Rome.  It  was  de  Rossi's 
generous  faith  which  enabled  him  to  draw  even  from  late  tra- 
ditions a  profit  which  most  of  the  scholars  of  his  time  would 
have  been  too  sceptical  to  look  for.  The  results  of  his  work 
justified  his  belief,  and  he  was  able  by  monumental  evidence 
to  reconstruct  in  some  measure  the  genuine  tradition  contained 
in  the  Lives  with  which  he  had  to  deal  (e.g.  that  of  S.  Cecilia), 
subjecting  them  to  a  criticism  Avhich  Avas  impossible  on  purely 
literary  lines.  Comparatively  few  of  the  Lives,  of  course, 
could  be  subjected  to  this  test,  and  for  the  most  of  them  we 
must  remain  without  any  such  criteria  for  distinguishirig  the 
false  from  the  true.  But  in  the  proof  that  in  the  Lives  which 
have  been  accounted  most  hopelessly  corrupt  we  may  look  for 
some  substantial  basis  of  fact,  lies  one  of  the  most  important 
general  results  of  de  Rossi's  work,  for  it  cannot  but  modify 
the  general  sceptical  attitude  toward  ecclesiastical  tradition. 

Another  class  of  documents,  the  pilgrim  Itineraries,  proved 


LITERARY   SOURCES  13 

of  still  more  value  for  the  topography  of  the  catacombs.  They 
were  intended  in  most  cases,  not  only  as  a  record  of  the  pil- 
grim's visit,  but  as  a  guide  to  others  who  might  follow  him  ; 
and  it  was  with  this  view  the  pilgrims  were  so  precise  in  de- 
scribing the  order  and  in  marking  the  location  of  the  monu- 
ments which  they  visited. 

In  Rome  the  pilgrims  were  interested  chiefly  in  the  tombs 
of  the  saints  and  the  memorice  which  were  erected  over  them, 
all  of  which  (with  the  exception  of  the  house  of  the  fourth- 
century  martyrs  John  and  Paul)  were  without  the  walls.  In 
Palestine  interest  centred,  of  course,  in  the  sites  connected 
with  our  Lord's  life  and  the  Constantinian  structures  which 
marked  them.  For  Rome  the  itineraries  are  furnished  us 
exclusively  by  German  and  English  pilgrims.  There  are  two 
in  a  Ms.  of  Salzburg :  the  first  of  them  recounts  a  pilgrimage 
made  shortly  after  the  pontificate  of  Honorius  I.  (625-638), 
and  the  second  belongs  approximately  to  the  same  date. 
About  the  end  of  the  same  century,  but  hardly  less  valuable 
topographically,  comes  the  Itinerary  of  William  of  Malmes- 
bury;  and  early  in  the  century  following,  one  which  was 
found  in  a  codex  of  the  monastery  of  Einsiedeln. 

Earlier  and  of  still  greater  interest  —  though  they  describe 
later  monuments  —  are  the  accounts  of  pilgrimage  to  Palestine. 
The  itinerary  of  the  pilgrims  from  Bordeaux  to  Jerusalem 
(fifth  century)  has  been  long  known.  The  Peregrinatio  Silvice 
(supposed  to  be  S.  Sylvia  of  Aquitaine)  has  been  recently  dis- 
covered, and  is  the  most  interesting  of  its  class.  This  is  a 
description  by  a  lady  of  Southern  Gaul  of  her  visit  to  the 
Holy  Places  of  Palestine  in  the  fourth  century.  It  was  writ- 
ten for  the  instruction  of  her  "  sisters,"  that  is,  doubtless, 
the  members  of  her  religious  community.  These  itineraries 
describe  the  Holy  Land  as  it  was  embellished  by  the  construc- 
tions of  Constantine ;  there  are  two  others  of  later  date  which 
describe  the  buildings  of  Justinian.  To  this  must  be  added 
the  description  of  the  holy  places  of  Palestine  by  the  abbot 
Adamnanus,  of  the  early  part  of  the  eighth  century. 

Even  more  closely  related  to  archaeology  is  the  Roman  Liber 
PontificaUs.  It  is  a  brief  record  of  the  official  acts  of  the 
popes,  — ceasing  however  to  be  brief  when  it  reaches  the  popes 
of  the  latter  part  of  the  sixth  century.     It  was  evidently  not 


14  INTRODUCTION 

all  of  it  written  at  one  time  ;  the  later  lives  at  least  were  added 
one  by  one  by  contemporary  scribes.  The  first  part  of  the 
work,  as  Duchesne  would  have  it,  probably  extended  only  to 
the  middle  of  the  short  rule  of  Silverius  (53(>-;")37),  and  was 
therefore  composed  by  a  contemporary  writer.  Some  would 
date  the  original  composition  a  century  later;  but  they  would 
not  thereby  seriously  affect  its  value  to  the  archaeologist.  For, 
serious  as  are  the  historical  blunders  of  the  first  part,  it  con- 
tains one  element  which  could  have  been  derived  only  from  the 
official  records  of  the  Church,  that  is,  the  account  of  the  con- 
struction of  churches  by  popes  and  emperors  and  of  the  gifts 
which  were  made  for  their  adornment.  This  is  all  given  with 
such  precision  of  detail  —  with  number,  weight,  and  measure  — 
that  it  argues  an  author  who,  however  ill  equipped  for  the 
task  of  an  historian,  had  at  his  service  official  records  which 
extended  back  to  the  time  of  Constantine.  Among  the  most 
interesting  notices  are  those  of  the  gifts  of  that  emperor. 

The  Liber  PontijicaUs  of  Ravenna  is  the  work  of  a  single 
author,  the  Abbot  Agnellus,  in  the  early  part  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury. Agnellus  had  no  such  minute  records  at  his  disposal  as 
had  the  author  of  the  Roman  work,  but  on  the  other  hand  he 
had  a  special  talent  for  his  task.  He  may  be  said  to  be  the 
first  Christian  archaeologist ;  it  was  by  the  study  of  the  monu- 
ments of  his  city  that  he  was  able  to  piece  out  its  history,  and 
the  documents  which  assisted  him  in  his  labor  were  chiefly  the 
metrical  inscriptions  wdiich  were  preserved  in  the  churches. 

The  inscriptions  wdiich  Agnellus  records  —  in  part  dedica- 
tory, in  part  descriptive  of  works  of  art  —  belong  to  a  class  of 
documents  more  strictly  literary  than  those  we  have  hitherto 
considered.  The  Christian  poets,  like  the  Greek,  often  chose 
for  their  theme  the  famous  work  of  some  artist,  and  exhibited 
their  skill  in  its  description. 

This  sort  of  poetry  was  current  both  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West,  but  with  marked  differences  of  type.  In  the  East  it  fol- 
lowed the  Classical  models.  The  Epigrams  of  Paulus  Silentiarius 
are  copied  after  the  Greek  form,  as  is  also  his  poem  descriptive 
of  S.  Sophia.  This  latter  work  was  highly  lauded  by  contem- 
poraries, and  it  was  claimed  that  a  reader  might  get  from  it  as 
vivid  an  impression  of  the  church  as  if  he  had  actually  seen 
it.     Procopius  of  Caesarea  described  in  prose  the  buildings  of 


LITERARY  SOURCES  15 

Justinian,  giving  us  a  more  exact  and  detailed  account  of  the 
building  operations  of  that  emperor  than  Eusebius  gives  us  (in 
his  Life  and  Eulogy)  of  the  churches  of  Constantine. 

In  the  West,  we  have,  first,  the  metrical  inscriptions  which 
Pope  Damasus  (366-384)  erected  in  the  catacombs  in  honor  of 
the  martyrs.  They  were  frequently  copied  by  the  pilgrims, 
and  in  that  way  many  of  them  have  been  preserved  to  us, 
though  it  seems  that  they  never  were  gathered  into  one  edition 
as  were  the  poems  of  Prudentius.  They  belong  so  properly 
to  our  monumental  study  that  they  must  be  treated  more  at 
length  elsewhere,  for  in  the  exploration  of  the  catacombs  a 
number  of  the  original  inscriptions  have  been  brought  to  light. 

With  Prudentius,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  we  come 
to  a  type  of  descriptive  poetry  which  belongs  exclusively  to 
the  West  and  constitutes  a  development  altogether  peculiar 
to  Christianity  and  highly  significant  of  the  spirit  of  Christian 
art.  It  is  the  so-called  titulus,  a  type  of  poetry  which  is  related 
to  the  Greek  epigram,  but  at  the  same  time  sharply  contrasted 
with  it.  Classic  art  in  its  perfection  strove  after  a  purely 
formal  effect  upon  the  beholder,  that  is  to  say,  its  chief  inter- 
est lay,  not  in  its  substantial  import,  but  in  its  external  form. 
This  aim  was  completely  summed  up  in  the  expression  of  the 
beautiful.  Intimately  related  to  the  spirit  of  Greek  art  was  the 
Greek  epigram,  which  sought  in  language  a  clever  and  pointed 
expression  of  the  effect  which  the  work  of  art  was  intended  to 
produce.  The  epigram  was  often  inscribed  upon  the  base  of  a 
statue,  but  the  statue  was  none  the  less  essentially  independent 
of  it,  for  its  effect  was  purely  formal  and  it  needed  no  inter- 
preting word.  On  the  other  hand  we  see  in  Christian  art  a 
spirit  which  was  ever  intent  upon  seeing  behind  the  veil.  In 
Christian  art  from  the  very  first  —  in  its  early  symbolical 
themes  no  less  than  in  its  later  and  more  obviously  didactic 
development  —  it  was  not  the  form  but  the  thought  which 
predominated ;  and  the  Christian  work  was  characteristically 
accompanied  not  by  the  epigram  with  its  clever  expression  of 
the  formal  effect,  but  by  the  title  (titulus)  which  summed  up 
no  less  tersely  the  substantial  point  of  the  narrative  or  dogma 
which  the  picture  would  represent.  The  titulus  was  usually 
inscribed  under  a  picture,  but  it  had  precisely  the  same  char- 
acter when  it  was  inscribed  over  a  door,  upon  the  altar,  or 


ir»  INTRODUCTION 

referred  to  the  whole  church  —  in  any  case  it  was  intended  to 
express  the  essential  significance  of  the  object.  The  titulus 
had  a  long  history  in  the  Church,  and  it,  was  continued  finally 
in  a  prose  form  quite  through  the  Middle  Ages,  or  until  with 
the  Renascence  the  interest  in  the  formal  effect  of  art  became 
predominant,  and  —  it  must  also  be  said  —  art  became  better 
able  to  tell  its  own  tale. 

In  the  Peristephanon  of  Prudentius  we  have  descriptions  of 
the  pictures  of  the  Martyrium  of  S.  Cassianus  in  Iniola  (the 
ancient  Forum  Cornelii)  and  of  the  Martyrium  of  S.  Hippolytus 
at  Rome  near  S.  Lorenzo.  In  his  Dittochmon  we  see  exempli- 
fied a  characteristic  of  Christian  art  which  we  shall  have  sev- 
eral occasions  to  notice  in  the  monuments.  The  name  is  com- 
pounded of  two  Greek  words  (Sittos  —  o^)  and  means  double 
nutriment.  The  titles  were  evidently  composed  for  actual  in- 
scription, and  they  represent  a  parallel  series  of  pictures  taken 
from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  A  similar  typological 
cycle  from  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  is  that  of 
Helpidius  Rusticus  of  the  sixth  century. 

Even  more,  interesting  are  the  poems  of  Paulinus  of  Nola 
(353—431).  In  his  letter  to  Sulpicius  Severus  of  Primuliacum 
in  Gaul  he  rebukes  his  friend  for  his  too  friendly  act  in  paint- 
ing his  (Paulinus's)  portrait  in  the  refectory  together  with  that 
of  S.  Martin,  and  he  proposes  the  choice  of  two  titles  which 
would  obviate  the  sacrilege  by  pointing  the  contrast  between 
the  saint  and  the  sinner.  The  same  letter  contains  dedications 
for  the  baptistery  and  the  basilica  which  his  friend  was  build- 
ing, and  gives  the  tituli  of  his  own  church  of  S.  Felix  at  Nola. 
We  have  also  from  S.  Paulinus  a  poem  descriptive  of  the  basil- 
ica of  S.  Felix ;  and  another  letter  contains  a  poetical  descrip- 
tion of  the  basilica  which  he  was  building  at  Fundi. 

"We  have  literary  record  of  the  tituli  of  some  of  the  churches 
of  North  Italy  of  the  fifth  century :  those  ascribed  to  S.  Am- 
brose, and  those  referred  falsely  to  Claudian.  Also  in  Gaul  for 
the  basilica  of  S.  Martin  at  Tours  (about  460),  and  for  the 
Cathedral  of  Tours  as  recorded  by  Venantius  Fortunatus  about 
565.  S.  Gregory  of  Tours  (+  594),  in  his  Historic/,  Francorum, 
gives  a  prose  description  of  the  basilica  of  S.  Martin  and  of  the 
basilica  of  Namantius  in  Clermont. 

The  literature  which  has  here  been  referred  to  as  especially 


HI8T0BY   OF  THE   STUDY  17 

illustrative  of  Christian  archaeology  can  most  of  it  be  found  in 
the  relative  volumes  of  the  Quellenschriftea  J'iir  Kuust.fjrwJi.ickO'. 
(cf.  Bibliography). 

The  history  of  the  study  of  Christian  archaeology  need  be 
given  here  only  in  the  briefest  terms  :  its  present  status  is  fairly 
represented  by  the  Bibliography  which  is  given  in  the  Appendix. 

The  beginnings  of  a  truly  monumental  study  of  Christian 
history  are  indissolubly  associated  with  the  exploration  of  the 
Roman  catacombs.  In  1578  a  general  interest  was  awakened 
by  the  accidental  discovery  of  a  single  chamber  of  one  of  the 
catacombs  which  had  lain  buried  for  centuries.  This  furnished 
an  impetus  to  study,  and  early  in  the  seventeenth  century  two 
Dutchmen,  L'Heureux  and  cle  Winghe,  wrote  works  upon  the 
catacombs  and  upon  early  Christian  art  in  general  which  showed 
careful  observation  and  a  fairly  just  appreciation  of  the  monu- 
ments. These  works  would  have  constituted  a  hopeful  begin- 
ning for  the  study,  if  only  they  could  have  gained  the  attention 
of  scholars,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  were  not  even  pub- 
lished. 

The  real  beginning  of  the  exploration  and  of  the  apprecia- 
tion of  the  catacombs  was  made  by  Bosio,  who  after  many  dis- 
coveries, after  many  years  of  familiarity  with  the  catacombs 
and  a  close  and  fruitful  study  of  their  contents,  left  his  work 
incomplete  and  unpublished  at  his  death  in  1614.  It  was  pub- 
lished, however,  in  1632,  under  the  title  Roma  Sotterranea, 
by  Severano  and  in  a  Latin  edition  by  Aringhi  in  1651-1659. 
How  great  was  Bosio's  merit  one  can  best  judge  from  de  Rossi's 
frequent  expressions  of  obligation  to  him.  He  had  recognized 
the  right  method  for  the  study  and  exploration  of  the  cata- 
combs, and  he  only  just  failed  to  make  the  important  discov- 
eries which  the  world  now  OAves  to  his  successor  de  Rossi. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  Christian  archaeology  con- 
tinued to  be  chiefly  occupied  with  the  catacombs  and  their  con- 
tents, but  without  being  able  to  avail  itself  of  the  impetus  of 
Bosio's  work  for  new  discovery.  No  substantial  progress  was 
made  in  this  line  even  in  the  eighteenth  century,  nor  indeed 
until  the  discoveries  of  de  Rossi  in  our  own  time.  For  the 
eighteenth  century,  however,  the  works  of  Boldetti  and  Bottari 
served  to  keep  alive  an  interest  in  the  subject,  and  already  by 


18  IX  rilODUCTIOX 

the  end  of  the  preceding  century  Ciainpini  had  widened  the 
field  by  studying  early  mosaics  and  the  churches  of  Constan- 
binian  foundation.  I'p  to  the  nineteenth  century  the  field  of 
discovery  was  almost  exclusively  confined  to  Rome,  and  the 
origin  and  significance  of  the  catacombs  and  their  contents 
was  a  fertile  ground  of  dispute  between  Roman  Catholics  and 
Protestants. 

With  the  nineteenth  century  the  development  of  the  study 
has  been  significant  in  many  respects.  A  real  appreciation 
of  early  Christian  art  was  perhaps  impossible  before  Classical 
art  itself  was  understood,  that  is  before  the  development  of 
Classical  archaeology.  At  all  events,  our  study  has  followed 
the  development  of  that  science  and  has  had  the  advantage  of 
its  well-established  method.  The  field  of  investigation  has  at 
the  same  time  been  broadened  so  that  substantial  contributions 
are  made  from  all  sides  and  from  many  lands,  though  Rome, 
as  the  chief  storehouse  of  monuments,  remains  also  the  most 
important  centre  of  study.  The  study  in  this  its  later  phase 
has  been  marked  not  only  by  a  scientific  method,  but  by  a 
scientific  spirit  which  has  for  the  most  part  risen  quite  above 
the  interests  of  sectarian  polemics. 

It  was  through  the  work  of  Giovanni  Battista  de  Rossi  that 
Christian  archaeology  first  assumed  its  modern  form  and  im- 
portance :  it  was  he  who  first  made  it  a  science.  Equipped 
with  everything  which  was  needed  to  furnish  him  for  the 
work,  with  solid  learning,  and  with  zeal  and  ingenuity  no  less  re- 
markable, he  followed  out  a  rigid  method  which  led  not  only  to 
the  discovery  of  the  catacombs,  but  to  a  just  appreciation  of 
their  historical  significance.  It  was  a  work  of  new  discovery, 
inasmuch  as  a  great  part  of  the  limited  region  of  the  cata- 
combs known  to  Bosio  had  been  again  lost  track  of.  Even  the 
catacombs  which  were  already  known  had  not  been  correctly 
identified  by  their  ancient  names  ;  they  could  not,  therefore, 
be  brought  into  relation  with  the  history  and  traditions  of  the 
Church,  and  their  testimony  was  almost  exclusively  limited 
to  the  obvious  facts  which  met  the  eye.  There  were  defects 
in  Bosio's  method  which,  small  as  they  were,  quite  baffled  his 
pursuit ;  and  for  all  his  patient  investigation  he  found  none  of 
the  sepulchres  of  the  historically  renowned  heroes  of  the  faith. 
On  principle  he  avoided  all  regions  of  the  catacombs  which 


HISTORY   OF    THE   STUDY  19 

showed  traces  of  late  masonry  and  painting :  this  seemed  to 
him  an  obvious  sign  that  the  region  and  its  tombs  must,  be  of 
late  date.  De  Rossi,  on  the  other  hand,  recognized  that  the 
decoration  and  construction  which  belonged  to  a  time  when 
the  catacombs  had  ceased  to  be  places  of  burial  must  indicate 
the  neighborhood  of  tombs  which  were  venerated  from  the 
fourth  to  the  seventh  century.  It  was  at  that  time  new  stair- 
ways were  constructed  and  the  corridors  were  enlarged  to  give 
easy  access  to  the  historic  chambers,  which  themselves  were 
amplified  and  decorated  as  an  expression  of  the  popular  cult 
which  was  accorded  the  martyrs. 

In  locating  and  distinguishing  the  catacombs,  in  assigning 
to  the  different  regions  their  date,  and  in  prescribing  the 
method  which  must  be  followed  in  their  study,  de  Rossi 
accomplished  an  indispensable  work  which  perhaps  no  one 
else  was  fitted  to  do.  This,  however,  was  but  the  ground  work ; 
the  most  interesting  part  of  his  study,  the  important  fruit 
which  he  drew  from  it,  consists  in  the  lines  of  connection 
which  he  traced  —  ingeniously  combining  many  mere  hints 
into  a  sound  argument  —  between  the  monuments  of  the  cata- 
combs and  the  general  history  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Em- 
pire. His  peculiar  talent  for  the  work  is  especially  shown  by 
the  genealogical  puzzles  which  he  unravelled,  connecting  the 
different  catacombs,  or  their  individual  tombs,  with  historical 
families  of  Christian  or  pagan  fame.  Such  arguments,  how- 
ever, are  in  their  very  nature  so  dependent  upon  minute  de- 
tail that  not  even  a  specimen  can  be  presented  in  this  book. 
And  in  general  it  must  be  said  that  the  soundness  of  de  Rossi's 
results,  the  accuracy  of  his  method,  and  the  candor  of  his 
judgment,  cannot  be  fairly  judged  except  from  his  own  works 
in  full  —  not  even  from  the  English  condensation  of  his  work 
by  Northcote  and  Brownlow.  The  disparagement  and  dis- 
trust which  de  Rossi  encountered  in  England  and  America 
was  due  to  a  merely  second-hand  acquaintance  with  his  work 
which  gave  an  inadequate  idea  of  the  cogency  of  his  argu- 
ments. In  all  that  is  fundamental  to  the  study  of  the 
catacombs  his  work  deserves  the  highest  confidence.  The 
catacombs  have  not  yet  been  completely  explored ;  but  what 
remains  may  be  discovered  (it  is  chiefly  a  question  of  expense) 
by  the  light  which  he  has  furnished.     The  four  great  volumes 


•2n  INTRODUCTION 

of  Roma  Sotterranea  hardly  represent  the  half  of  his  published 
studies  ul  the  subject.  The  studies  and  discoveries  in  the 
catacombs  since  the  date  of  that  publication  are  about  to  be 
edited  by  his  surviving  disciples  as  a  continuation  of  Roma 
Sotti  rranea. 

As  regards  the  frescos  of  the  catacombs  de  Eossi's  opinion 
has  less  value.  In  the  n- production  of  the  pictures  he  did  uot 
avail  himself  of  the  accurate  photo-mechanical  processes  which 
were  at  his  disposal,  and  his  copyists  were  not  always  trust- 
worthy. He  himself  lacked  the  keen  appreciation  of  art 
which  is  requisite  in  a  critic,  and  even  in  the  interpretation  of 
the  subjects  his  judgment  was  often  astray  and  has  been  cor- 
rected by  his  disciples.  This  lack  in  de  .Rossi's  work  is  com- 
pletely supplied  by  Joseph  Wilpert,  who  has  already  published 
some  works  on  the  subject,  and  is  about  to  give  a  complete 
presentation  of  the  pictures  of  the  catacombs  in  a  work  which 
for  the  accuracy  of  its  reproductions  of  the  frescos  and  for  the 
scholarly  worth  of  the  studies  upon  them  is  sure  to  be  recog- 
nized as  the  final  work  on  the  subject. 

Marucchi,  another  of  the  immediate  disciples  of  de  Eossi,  is 
likewise  engaged  in  carrying  on  his  master's  work ;  two  others 
whose  "work  was  very  important,  Armellini  and  Stevenson, 
have  recently  died. 

But  de  Eossi's  influence  was  not  confined  to  the  circle  of  his 
personal  scholars,  nor  to  the  department  of  study  with  which 
his  name  is  specially  associated.  Even  in  the  study  of  the 
catacombs  he  was  obliged  to  deal  with  almost  every  subject 
which  interests  the  archgeology  of  the  early  Christian  cen- 
turies. The  Eoman  monuments  which  he  discovered  and 
illustrated  presented  for  the  first  time  such  a  sequence  as 
made  it  possible  to  understand  early  Christian  art  in  the 
order  of  its  development,  and  they  constitute  as  it  were  a 
standard  scale  for  the  judgment  of  the  date  and  value  of  all 
kindred  objects  wherever  they  may  be  found.  De  Eossi's 
great  work  on  the  Christian  mosaics  of  Eome  is  only  a  strik- 
ing example  of  the  breadth  of  his  activity  in  this  field.  To 
the  study  of  almost  every  branch  of  Christian  archaeology  he 
imparted  a  new  impulse;  in  some  departments  he  first  laid 
the  foundation.  None  of  the  scholars  who  have  followed  him 
can  fail  to  recognize  their  debt. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   STUDY  21 

But  fundamental  as  de  Rossi's  work  was,  it  was  only  a  symp- 
tom of  a  genera]  revival  of  the  study  of  early  Christian  monu- 
ments and  art.  Already  by  the  end  of  the  lasl  century  there 
was  an  awakening  to  the  worth  of  Mediaeval  art,  especially  of 
architecture;  and  the  interesl  gradually  extended  back  to  the 
early  period.  In  Italy  and  contemporary  with  de  B 
Raffaelle  Garrucci  planned  a  corpus  of  the  monument  of  early 
Christian  art  and  carried  it  out  very  creditably.  In  France, 
nearer  the  beginning  of  the  century,  Seroux  d'Agincourt  made 
a  similar  publication  of  Christian  monuments,  covering  less 
completely  a  more  extended  period.  Early  Christian  art 
found  in  Eaoul  Itochette  a  sharp  but  mistaken  critic  who 
stimulated  research  by  the  very  temerity  of  his  views.  Tow- 
ard the  end  of  the  century  again,  Rohault  de  Fleury  labored 
at  the  reproduction  of  Christian  monuments,  illustrating  how- 
ever only  selected  themes,  and  following  them  out  through  the 
Middle  Ages.  His  son,  Georges  de  Fleury,  is  engaged  in  revis- 
ing his  father's  work  and  in  continuing  it  on  the  same  lines. 
Edmond  le  Blant,  working  under  the  inspiration  of  de  Rossi, 
not  only  furnished  new  material  by  the  publication  of  the 
inscriptions  and  sarcophagi  of  Gaul,  but  suggested  new  points 
of  view  for  the  appreciation  of  early  Christian  art  in  general. 
The  abbe  Duchesne  has  done  valuable  work  in  this  field,  though 
he  is  better  known  for  his  liturgical  studies.  Franz  Xaver 
Kraus,  though  he  has  added  nothing  material  to  the  study, 
has  done  very  much  to  popularize  it  among  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics of  Germany. 

Among  German  Protestants  the  first  really  monumental  study 
of  the  early  Christian  period  begins  with  Ferdinand  Piper, 
who,  quite  independent  of  de  Rossi,  inaugurated  in  Berlin  an 
interesting  museum  of  Christian  antiquities,  and  in  several 
large  works  laid  down  a  programme  for  the  study  which  has  had 
great  influence  in  Germany  and  some  effect  even  in  England 
and  America.  Of  the  newer  school  Victor  Schultze  has  been 
the  most  prominent  leader.  ■  He  has  done  a  considerable  ser- 
vice in  stimulating  interest  and  work  in  this  field.  A  number 
of  students  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  study,  and  in  gen- 
eral the  students  of  early  Christian  litearture  have  showed 
appreciation  of  the  importance  of  archaeology.  The  predomi- 
nance of  a  polemic  interest,  and  the  zeal  for  novel  interpreta- 


22  INTRODUCTloX 

tions,  has  not  affected  favorably  the  value  of  their  results. 
Kicker  has  been  editing  a  series  of  studies  by  younger 
scholars:  monographs  which  present  a  detailed  account  of  a 
limited  theme  and  possess  sometimes  a  certain  value.  Finally, 
it  is  to  Germany  we  owe  the  most  solid  as  well  as  the  most 
numerous  studies  upon  early  Christian  architecture;  G.  Dehio 
and  H.  Holtzinger  are  especially  to  be  mentioned  in  this 
connection. 

It  is  natural  that  the  British  archaeologists  should  be  chiefly 
interested  in  the  monuments  which  are  furnished  by  their  own 
land  —  belonging  to  a  period  and  a  type  quite  distinct  from  the 
Classical  art  we  are  here  studying.  But  how  generously  the 
Continental  studies  have  been  appreciated  and  utilized  in  Eng- 
land, may  be  seen  conspicuously  in  the  production  of  Smith 
and  Cheetham's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  fact  that  so  many  competent  scholars  could  be 
enlisted  in  the  work. 

With  the  widening  of  the  field  of  discovery  Roman  scholar- 
ship is  losing  something  of  the  preponderance  of  authority 
which  it  has  hitherto  enjoyed;  and  British  and  American  ex- 
plorers are  among  the  first  in  exploiting  the  outlying  regions 
which  may  be  expected  to  yield  valuable  monuments  for  our 
study.  For  example,  the  Palestine  Exploration  has  incident- 
ally proved  very  valuable  also  for  the  discovery  of  Christian 
monuments. 

Strictly  in  the  line  of  archaeology  are  the  valuable  researches 
of  Professor  Ramsay,  which  are  published  in  his  Cities  and 
Bishoprics  of  Phrygia ;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  his  geo- 
graphical studies  have  too  little  relation  to  art  to  be  noticed 
in  this  book.  In  his  St.  Paul  the  Roman  Citizen  he  shows 
what  may  be  done  through  archaeology  to  illuminate  even  the 
history  of  the  Apostles  —  a  service  which  must  be  of  special 
interest  to  Protestant  theology.  He  has  brought  to  light, 
however,  a  number  of  inscriptions  of  which  we  can  take 
cognizance,  for  among  them  is  the  most  interesting  of  all 
Christian  epitaphs. 


II 

CHRISTIAN  CEMETERIES 
GENERAL   DESCRIPTION   OF   THE   ROMAN   CATACOMBS 

The  word  "catacomb"  has  a  curious  history  and  a  very- 
doubtful  etymology ;  de  Rossi  takes  it  to  be  a  hybrid  word, 
half  Greek  and  half  Latin,  meaning  "  next  the  sepulchres  "  — 
accubitorium  is  a  late  Latin  word  for  tomb.  The  great  number 
of  tombs  on  the  via  Appia  is  supposed  to  account  for  this 
appellation,  although  they  were  so  frequent  along  all  the  prin- 
cipal roads  that  one  hardly  sees  why  this  name  should  have 
been  used  to  distinguish  one  very  limited  region.  But  what- 
ever was  the  original  significance  of  the  name,  its  further  his- 
tory is  sufficiently  clear.  The  word  does  not  appear  before 
the  end  of  the  third  century,  and  then  not  as  the  name  of  a 
cemetery,  but  as  a  topographical  designation  (ad  catacumbas)  — 
like  many  of  the  popular  names  for  different  quarters  of  the 
suburbs  (ad  ursum  pileatum,  ad  clivum  cucumeris,  etc.)  — for  a 
special  region  along  the  via  Appia  about  the  second  mile  from  the 
present  walls.  In  process  of  time  the  name  became  expressly 
associated  with  one  of  the  cemeteries  along  that  road,  that  of 
S.  Sebastian.  This  cemetery  was  one  of  the  very  few  which 
were  known  and  accessible  after  the  eighth  century.  With  it 
the  pilgrims  confused  the  traditions  of  the  more  important 
cemeteries  near  the  Appia,  and  in  the  ninth  century  the  name 
which  was  proper  to  this  cemetery  began  to  be  employed  for 
all  underground  burying  places  indiscriminately. 

The  name  which  was  original  to,  and  distinctive  of,  the 
Christian  burial  places  was  cemetery  (coemeterium  —  koi^tt/- 
pwv).  It  is  sufficiently  indicative  of  the  Christian  hope,  for  it 
signifies  a  sleeping  place.  It  denotes  a  whole  congeries  of 
tombs  rather  than  a  single  sepulchre,  though  it  has  this  latter 
meaning  in  the  very  rare  instances  of  its  pagan  use.     It  was 

23 


24 


CEMETERIES 


equally  apt  to  denote  a  surface  burying  place  or  one  beneath 
the  ground.  There  was  no  special  designation  for  the  whole 
complex  <>l'  the  underground  cemetery  ;  particular  areas,  espe- 
cially the  chambers  which  included  the  tomb  of  a  martyr,  were 
called  cryptce;  ordinary  chambers,  rnhirnhi ;  the  Classical  name 
hypogeum  denoted  especially  an  isolated  and  private  sepulchral 
chamber.  The  name  ambulacrum  is  given  by  archaeologists  to 
the  corridors,  though  there  is  no  evidence  of  its  ancient  use. 


Fig.  1.  —  Plan  of  part  of  the  catacomb  of  Domitilla. 


It  is  these  narrow  corridors  or  galleries,  extending  often  to 
great  length  and  crossing  at  every  angle,  which  are  the  charac- 
teristic feature  of  the  Roman  catacombs,  and  give  the  impres- 
sion not  only  of  boundless  extent,  but  of  hopeless  intricacy 
(Fig.  1).  In  Rome  the  average  width  is  less  than  a  yard ;  the 
height  is  almost  always  above  that  of  a  man,  and  not  infre- 
quently very  much  greater.  In  the  catacomb  of  S.  Gennaro  at 
Naples  the  harder  quality  of  the  tufa  permitted  a  very  much 
greater  width  (from  three  to  ten  yards),  and  the  limestone  in 


NOMENCLATURE  25 

which.  S.  Giovanni  at  Syracuse!  is  excavated  permitted  corridors 
and  cubicula  of  a  width  which  has  no  example  in  Rome. 

It,  is  along  the  walls  of  these  corridors  that  the  tombs  were 
excavated;  the  name  given  them  was  sepulcrum or  locus,  though 
the  archaeologists  have  adopted  the  diminutive  term  loculus. 
The  tomb  is  merely  an  oblong  niche  cut  in  the  wall,  just  wide 
and  deep  enough  to  receive  the  body.  As  the  whole  wall  space 
was  utilized  to  the  uttermost,  the  general  appearance  is  that 
of  a  series  of  shelves  (Figs.  2,  4,  5).  Graves  were  sometimes 
made  under  the. floor  itself.  Odd  spaces  too  short  for  adults 
were  often  utilized  for  the  loculi  of  children.  The  body  was 
sometimes  embalmed  in  Oriental  fashion ;  but  in  general  it  was 
simply  clothed  in  a  tunic  and  winding  sheet,  and  covered  with 
a  coating  of  plaster.  This  covering  of  plaster  was  probably 
more  effective  than  anything  else  in  preserving  the  air  of  the 
catacombs  from  contamination,  though  the  locus  itself  was  also 
tightly  sealed  with  a  plate  of  stone  (Fig.  18),  or  by  several 
tiles  (Fig.  21).  It  was  upon  this  covering  the  inscription  was 
cut  or  painted.  In  case  there  was  no  inscription  some  common 
article  belonging  to  the  deceased  or  to  his  family  was  pressed 
into  the  soft  plaster  and  served  to  identify  the  tomb.  A  more 
distinguished  place  of  burial  was  afforded  by  the  arcosolium 
(Fig.  11),  in  which  the  opening  was  made,  not  from  the  side, 
but  from  above,  and  usually  under  an  arch.  This  style  of 
tomb  permitted  the  burial  of  several  bodies  side  by  side ;  such 
a  locus  was  described  as  bisomus,  trisomus,  etc.,  according  as 
there  were  places  for  two,  three,  or  more  bodies.  The  arch 
and  the  wall  above  and  below  the  tomb  being  plastered, 
afforded  room  for  painting,  and  apart  from  this  there  is  rarely 
any  decoration  in  the  corridors. 

Here  and  there,  generally  in  groups,  there  open  out  from 
the  corridors  chambers  of  various  size  and  shape  (cubicula), 
which  were  designed  as  family  burying  places  (Figs.  2,  5).  In 
general  they  were  intended  to  be  readily  accessible ;  the  attach- 
ments for  the  wooden  doors  are  sometimes  to  be  seen.  But  in 
one  case,  at  S.  Domitilla,  the  entrance  is  by  a  hole  at  some 
elevation  from  the  ground,  which  was  permanently  closed  by 
a  stone,  after  the  likeness  of  our  Lord's  tomb.  These  cham- 
bers are  of  very  various  shape  and  size :  square,  rectangular, 
polygonal.      There    is    a    very    important    round   cubiculum, 


20 


CEMETERIES 


crowned  by  the  shaft  of  a  luminarium,  in  the  region  of  S.  Sotere 
in  S.  ( lallistus.  The  ceiling  is  sonic!  imes  Bat,  sometimes  domed. 
The  sepulchres      either  the  common  locvs  or  the  arcosolium  — 

are  exeavated  in  the  walls  of  the  cubirnhnn  in  the  same  way  as 
in  the  corridors;  or,  if  sarcophagi  arc  used,  they  are  ranged 
against  the  walls  or  accommodated  in  niches. 

Other  crypts,  though    used   likewise  tor  burial,  seem  to  have 
been  designed  expressly  for  the  celebration  of  Christian  wor- 


Fig.  2.- 


•A  cubiculum  in  the  catacomb  of  Callistus,  one  of  the  so-called  sacrament  chapels. 
Third  century. 


ship  —  particularly,  one  must  suppose,  of  the  eucharist.  Not- 
withstanding their  limited  size,  they  are  rightly  regarded  as 
subterranean  chapels  intended  for  a  more  or  less  public  use. 
They  open  generally  with  a  broad  entrance  upon  the  corridor, 
so  that  a  number  of  worshippers  might  have  been  accommodated 
in  the  latter.  The  accommodation  was  sometimes  still  further 
increased  by  a  second  chapel  opening  directly  opposite  the 
principal  one ;  it  is  supposed  that  this  was  occupied  by  the 
women.  An  example  of  such  a  double  chapel  is  the  crypt  of 
Miltiades  in  S.  Callistus ;  it  retains  traces  of  the  stone  bench 
which  ran  around  the  wall.     One  of  the  most  ample  and  com- 


N  OMEN  (J  LA  TURE  27 

plete  of  these  subterranean  basilicas  is  a  crypt  in  the  Ostrian 
cemetery  which  is  provided  with  a  presbytery  architecturally 
separated  from  the  nave,  ending  with  an  apse,  an  elevated  seat 
for  the  bishop,  and  a  lower  bench  for  the  presbyters.  Here 
there  are  also  lateral  niches  for  the  sacred  utensils,  and  on 
the  other  side  of  the  corridor  there  is  a  corresponding  chamber 
for  the  women.  The  earliest  of  these  chapels  (ascribed  to  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century),  and  the  most  interesting  in 
point  of  decoration,  is  the  so-called  Capella  greca  (Fig.  3)  in 
S.  Priscilla.  These  crypts  and  chapels  were  not  infrequently 
adorned  architecturally  with  columns,  capitals  and  cornices 
worked  in  the  tufa  walls  or  done  in  marble ;  but  more  com- 
monly with  painted  decoration  alone. 

These  early  chapels,  which  are  marked  by  great  simplicity 
in  the  means  of  decoration,  must  be  distinguished  from  those 
which  were  constructed  after  the  peace  of  the  church,  when 
the  crypt  of  every  famous  martyr  was  transformed  into  a  resort 
for  pilgrims  and  a  place  of  public  worship.  To  this  end  they 
were  sometimes  enlarged  (Fig.  5),  often  adorned  with  marble 
and  furnished  with  an  episcopal  chair,  with  altar  and  ciborium, 
and  with  everything  necessary  for  the  celebration  of  the  eu- 
charist  (Fig.  10).  The  neighboring  corridors  were  enlarged  and 
strengthened  with  brickwork,  and  not  infrequently  a  special 
stairway  was  constructed  to  give  ready  access  to  the  sacred 
spot.  With  the  increasing  desire  for  burial  near  the  saints  — 
ad  martyres  —  corridors  were  cut  and  loculi  accommodated  on 
all  sides,  so  that  the  primitive  aspect  of  the  region  was  seri- 
ously altered.  This  transformation  of  the  historical  crypts 
was  due  above  all  to  Pope  Damascus,  who  embellished  them 
also  with  his  metrical  inscriptions. 

Burial  in  the  catacombs  ceased  in  the  year  410  with  the  in- 
vasion of  Alaric.  This  fact,  which  has  been  proved  by  de 
Rossi,  affords  an  important  limit  for  the  dating  of  both  frescos 
and  inscriptions.  The  frescos  which  were  added  in  the  fifth, 
sixth  and  seventh  centuries  adorn  exclusively  the  tombs  of 
the  martyrs,  and  they  stand  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  more 
primitive  work.  All  of  these  signs  of  a  late  age  in  the  recon- 
struction and  decoration  of  the  martyrs'  tombs  led  Bosio  and 
other  early  explorers  to  avoid  the  very  regions  which  histori- 
cally and  artistically  constitute  the  points  of  greatest  interest, 


28  CEMETERIES 

and  often  prove  to  be  bhe  centre  of  the  original  excavation. 
The  pilgrims  have  left  records  of  their  visits  in  the  graffiti  — 


Fig.  3.  —  The  Capella  greea  in  the  catacomb  of  Priscilla.    Middle  of  the  second  century. 

names  or  exclamations  scratched  upon  the  plaster  —  which  are 
often  of  great  importance,  and  may  serve  even  to  identify  the 
crypts  in  which  they  are  found. 


PLAN  29 

Many  of  the  catacombs  are  quite  simple  in  plan.  Those  at 
Syracuse  have  ample  and  regular  galleries  flanked  by  large 
cubkula;  they  are  excavated  on  a  single  level, which  lies  only 
slightly  below  the  surface.  Hardly  more  complex  in  construc- 
tion is  the  catacomb  of  S.  Gennaro  at  Naples.  One  broad  corri- 
dor runs  from  end  to  end  of  the  hill  under  which  the  catacomb 
is  constructed ;  close  to  it  along  its  whole  length  runs  a  nar- 
rower passage;  and  from  these  there  diverge  at  right  angles 
and  at  close  intervals  short  galleries  or  cubicula.  The  smallest 
of  the  Roman  catacombs,  that  of  S.  Valentine,  is  even  more 
simple.  It  is  excavated  in  a  hill  which  is  practically  the  ex- 
tension of  the  Pincian  along  the  via  Flamiuia.  The  galleries 
were  cut  straight  back  from  the  steep  hillside.  The  crypt  of 
S.  Valentine  (martyred  in  the  reign  of  Claudius  II.,  Gothicus) 
opened  directly  upon  the  road,  and  behind  it  there  was  exca- 
vated later  a  large  chamber  for  religious  services  in  honor  of 
the  martyrs  who  were  buried  on  the  spot,  and  a  few  broad  and 
regular  galleries  for  the  accommodation  of  the  tombs  of  those 
who  would  be  buried  ad  sanctos.  On  a  higher  level  there  is  a 
more  extensive  excavation,  but  one  which  is  still  quite  simple 
in  plan :  the  low,  narrow  galleries  cross  one  another  usually  at 
right  angles.  One  usually  speaks  of  a  descent  into  the  cata- 
combs, and  an  epitaph  reveals  that  an  early  name  for  the 
stairways  was  catabaticum  (descent) ;  but  in  this  case  one 
must  ascend  along  the  face  of  the  hill.  And  the  case  is  by  no 
means  unique,  for  the  cemeteries  were  commonly  excavated  in 
a  hillside,  or  at  least  under  a  distinct  rise  of  ground.  This 
choice  was  fixed  by  the  necessity  of  avoiding  dampness  and 
serious  inundation  from  rain  water.  It  was  therefore  possible 
to  enter  the  cemeteries  by  a  passage  sloping  gradually  back 
from  the  surface.  The  long  steep  stairs  which  descend  directly 
from  above  belong  for  the  most  part  to  the  period  after  Con- 
stantine  and  were  constructed  to  furnish  direct  access  to  the 
crypts  of  the  martyrs. 

But  after  all,  for  the  Roman  catacombs  simplicity  of  struc- 
ture is  the  rare  exception.  Not  only  to  one  who  is  wandering 
in  their  mazes,  but  even  to  one  who  studies  their  plan,  they 
seem  involved  in  an  inextricable  confusion.  This  apparent 
confusion  is,  however,  explained,  if  not  entirely  resolved,  when 
one  detects  the  fact  that  several  cemeterial  areas  originally 


80  CEMETERIES 

distinct  were  later  united  in  a  single  complex.  Tin*  primary 
excavation  was  probably  obvious  enough  in  plan;  the  irregu- 
larity of  the  galleries  which  meet  at  various  angles  was  due 
to  the  later  necessity  of  utilizing  all  available  space.  For  the 
catacombs  were  not  (according  to  the  popular  idea)  illicit  ex- 
cavations, unknown  to  the  law.  and  therefore  unrestricted  in 
extent.  They  were  distinctly  circumscribed  by  the  boundaries 
of  the  superficial  area  allotted  to  them ;  they  were  not  free, 
either  in  the  earlier  or  the  later  period,  to  extend  under  neigh- 
boring property  whether  public  or  private.  Hence  there  were 
express  limitations  to  the  agglomeration  of  separate  cemeteries  ; 
the  catacombs  of  Pretextatus  and  Callistus  had  only  the  via 
Appia  between  them,  but  they  were  never  joined  in  any  way. 
No  less  absolute  were  the  natural  restrictions;  for  the  gal- 
leries could  be  conveniently  constructed  only  in  a  special  qual- 
ity of  tufa,  and  in  case  the  catacombs  lay  under  the  slopes  of 
different  hills  it  was  likely  that  communications  could  not  be 
made  without  descending  to  a  level  which  would  be  frequently 
inundated  by  water.  There  are  obvious  difficulties  in  the 
strict  observation  underground  of  the  legal  limits  imposed : 
one  knows  little  of  the  Eonian  methods  of  mensuration ;  but  it 
seems  probable  from  the  plans  of  the  catacombs  even  as  we 
now  have  them  that  the  first  galleries  along  the  level  selected 
were  constructed  all  the  way  around  the  area  which  was  at 
the  disposal  of  the  cemetery.  The  limits  were  thus  plainly 
marked,  and  subsequent  galleries  ran  roughly  parallel  to  them. 
The  level  was  easily  maintained  by  following  the  stratifications 
of  the  tufa. 

The  impression  of  complexity  in  the  Roman  catacombs  is 
very  greatly  increased  by  the  fact  that  they  are  seldom  con- 
fined to  one  level ;  in  the  catacomb  of  Callistus  there  are  as 
many  as  six  different  levels  of  excavation  (Fig.  4).  This,  of 
course,  was  prescribed  by  the  necessity  of  utilizing  all  the 
available  room  within  the  limits  imposed  by  the  superficial 
area.  But  to  this  vertical  extension  of  the  excavation  there 
were  also  natural  limits  due  to  the  water  level  and  the  nature 
of  the  soil.  The  possibility  of  carrying  out  such  excavations 
as  surprise  us  in  the  catacombs  is  due  to  the  geological  char- 
acter of  the  Roman  campagna. 


PLAN 


31 


The  great  plain  which  surrounds  Rome  is  almost  entirely 
composed  of  a  volcanic  tufa  —  a  mixture  of  pumice  stone  and 
sand.  It  exhibits  different  characters  according  as  these  ele- 
ments appear  in  various  proportions;  hut  in  general  the  differ- 
ent sorts  of  tufa  are  sufficiently  distinguished  by  three  classes : 
the  lithoid  tufa  (peperino),  which  was  employed  for  the  wall 
of  Servius  Tullius  and  is  still  used  for  construction ;  the  gran- 
ular tufa;  and  the  sand  (pozzolana),  which  gives  to  Roman 
mortar  and  cement  its  tenacious   character.      It  was  in  the 


Fig.  -1.  —  Section  of  the  catacomb  of  Callistus. 


granular  tufa  the  catacombs  were  excavated ;  the  lithoid  pre- 
sented insuperable  difficulties  to  the  excavation  of  narrow 
passages,  and  in  the  sand  a  vertical  wall  could  have  been 
maintained  only  by  a  facing  of  brick.  This  difference  in  the 
character  of  the  soil  imposed  natural  limits  to  the  extension  of 
the  catacombs  either  laterally  or  vertically ;  and  it  explains 
in  part  why  the  excavations  on  one  level  were  more  extensive 
than  on  another,  for  not  all  qualities  even  of  the  granular  tufa 
were  equally  apt  for  the  purpose. 

We  see  from  the  above  how  unreasonable  was  the  denial  of 


CEMETERIES 

tlic  Christian  origin  of  these  huge  excavations,  or  the  opinion 
that  they  are  merely  Roman  sand  pits  (arrmtria)  utilized  by 
the  Christians;  for  of  the  different  sorts  of  tufa  the  granular 
alone  had  no  value  as  a  material,  and  the  Unmans  had,  there- 
fore, do  ol>jcrt  in  quarrying  it.  The  fact  is  that  the  literary 
sources  of  history  had  not  prepared  us  to  aeeept  such  testi- 
mony as  the  catacombs  bore  to  the  numerical  and  also  to  the 
material  and  organized  strength  of  the  Church  during  the  age 
of  persecution.  It  must  be  confessed  that  there  was  a  certain 
suggestion  for  the  sand-pit  theory  in  the  fact  that  crypta  are- 
naria  was  not  an  uncommon  designation  for  the  underground 
cemeteries.  There  was,  of  course,  a  certain  similarity  between 
the  two,  but  the  differences  also  are  very  plainly  marked.  It- 
was  a  practical  requisition  that  the  galleries  of  the  arenaria 
should  lie  broad  enough  for  several  laborers  to  work  abreast,  as 
broad,  in  fact,  as  the  safe  support  of  the  roof  would  allow:  the 
galleries  of  the  catacombs  on  the  contrary  were  broad  enough 
only  for  passage  in  single  file.  It  is  true,  however,  that  arena- 
ria are  frequently  found  in  connection  with  the  cemeteries  — 
whether  they  were  accidentally  entered,  or  constructed  on  pur- 
pose to  provide  room  for  the  worthless  material  excavated 
from  the  catacombs.  It  is  evidently  for  this  latter  purpose 
that  the  floors  of  the  arenaria  were  often  pierced  by  wells 
which  descended  to  the  galleries  of  the  catacomb  which  lay 
below.  For  the  removal  of  such  material  and  for  the  provi- 
sion of  light  and  air  the  stairways  were  generally  insufficient, 
and  perpendicular  shafts  (luminarid)  were  opened  directly 
from  the  surface  and  pierced  sometimes  through  several  floors 
of  the  catacomb.  There  is  no  doubt  that  in  times  of  acute 
persecution  —  as  for  example  in  the  third  century  when  the 
catacombs  were  confiscated  and  their  ordinary  entrances 
watched  —  the  Christians  availed,  themselves  of  the  arenaria 
for  secret  access  to  their  cemeteries,  and,  on  occasion,  for  wor- 
ship and  refuge. 

Equally  at  fault  is  the  popular  exaggeration  of  the  extent 
and  significance  of  these  Christian  excavations.  The  idea  is 
still  current  in  Italy  amongst  the  people  that  the  catacombs 
surrounded  the  city  with  an  uninterrupted  network ;  and  that 
the}T  were  connected  by  underground  passages,  on  the  one  hand 


EXAGGERATION  OF  THEIR  EXTENT 


33 


with  the  basilicas  within  the  walls,  and  on  the  other,  with  the 
mountains  and  the  coast.  rnderlying  all  such  representations 
is  the  notion  that  the  whole  system  of  excavation  was 
secret,  that  it  was  intended  not  only  for  purposes  of  burial, 

but  as  a  refuge  for  a  limited  sect,  as  the  ordinary  place  of 
meeting  and  worship  and  even  of  abode.  That  such  notions 
conflict  with  the  facts  is  evident  from  what  has  already  been 
said ;  it  remains  now  to  observe  more  in  detail  the  actual  ex- 


Fig.  5.  —  Crypt  of  S.  Ca?eilia,  catacomb  of  Callistus.     Third  century. 


tent,  the  true  use,  and  the  legal  status  of  the  Christian  ceme- 
teries. 

The  location  and  distribution  of  the  Roman  catacombs  was 
determined  in  part  by  natural,  in  part  by  historical  considera- 
tions. As  to  the  historical  factor,  we  know  only  in  general 
that  the  cemeteries  of  the  first,  and  even  of  the  second  century 
must  have  been  located  within  the  suburban  properties  and 
usually  in  connection  with  the  family  tombs  of  noble  or 
wealthy  converts  to  the  faith.  Pagan  tombs  were  built  along 
all  the  public  roads  which  diverged  from  Eome  ;  but  they  were 
especially   numerous    and   especially   notable    along    the    via 


::i 


<  i:mi:  ri:u IE s 


Appia,  and  it  was  along  this  road,  or  generally  in  this  region, 
that  a  number  of  the  greatesl  <>f  the  Christian  cemeteries  were 
located.  The  location  of  the  Christian  cemeteries  in  this  region 
may  have  been  iluc  iii  part  to  the  popularity  of  burial  along  the 
via  Appia;  hut  it  is  to  1m-  noted  also  that  the  Jewish  colony  was 
from  the  first  established  in  the  corresponding  quarter  of  the 
city,  and  that  Jewish  catacombs  have  been  found  in  this  same 
region.  A  considerable  majority  of  the  catacombs  were  located 
along  the  roads  which  left  the  city  on  the  southwest  and  west; 


Fig.  6.  —  A  crypt  in  Cyrene. 


that  is,  from  the  Aventine  and  Trastevere  quarters,  which 
were  the  poorest  and  most  crowded  of  the  city.  Along  the 
Appia  were  the  cemeteries  of  Balbina,  Callistus,  Pretextatus, 
and  ad  Catacumbas  (S.  Sebastian) ;  on  the  via  Ardeatina,  the 
whole  complex  which  is  represented  by  the  cemetery  of  Domi- 
tilla,  the  most  extensive  of  all  the  catacombs  ;  on  the  via  Osti- 
ensis,  the  cemetery  of  Lucina  (the  burial  place  of  S.  Paul),  as 
well  as  those  of  Commodilla,  of  Thecla,  and  of  Zeno ;  on  the 
via  Portuensis,  of  Pontianus  and  of  Pope  Felix;  on  the  via 
Aurelia,  the  cemeteries  of  Pancratius,  of  Processus  and  Mar- 


ACTUAL  LOCATION  AND   EXTENT  35 

tinianus,  and  of  Calepodius.  The  Vatican  cemetery,  the  buria] 
place  of  S.  Peter,  was  on  the  via  Cornelia,  which,  though  it 
was  directed  to  the  north,  was  in  immediate  communication 
with  the  Trastevere.  One  must  be  careful,  however,  not  to 
exaggerate  the  predominance  of  the  cemeteries  which  were 
accessible  from  this  side  of  the  city.  To  the  east  of  the 
„  ippia  we  find  on  the  via  Latina  three  cemeteries  which  are 
of  but  small  importance ;  on  the  via  Labicana,  the  important 
cemetery  of  Petrus  and  Marcellinus,  and  two  others.  On  the 
slope  which  faces  the  Sabine  hills  we  find  some  of  the  most 
important  of  the  catacombs:  on  the  via  Tibwrtina,  that  of 
Cyriaca  (S.  Lorenzo),  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  the 
cemetery  of  Hippoly tus ;  on'  the  via  Nomentana,  the  cemetery 
of  S.  Agnes,  and  the  Ostrian  cemetery ;  on  the  via  Solaria 
nova  the  cemetery  of  Priscilla,  and  three  of  less  importance; 
and  there  are  three  also  on  the  Solaria  vetus.  On  the  via 
Flaminia  there  is  only  the  third  century  cemetery  of  S.  Valen- 
tine. Of  these  cemeteries  that  of  S.  Callistus  alone  is  com- 
pletely excavated  ;  the  sites  of  some  are  not  precisely  known  ; 
and  the  cemeteries  of  the  Vatican  and  of  Lucina  have  been 
completely  destroyed  by  the  great  basilicas  which  have  been 
erected  over  them  in  honor  of  the  Apostles. 

The  Roman  law  forbade  burial  within  the  walls  of  the  city. 
It  was  the  Servian  wall  which  marked  the  limit  during  the 
period  when  most  of  the  catacombs  were  founded.  The  Aure- 
lian  wall  was  built  about  a  mile  beyond  it,  and  the  fact  that 
no  Christian  cemeteries  are  found  within  this  circuit  proves 
that  by  the  end  of  the  first  century  the  suburbs  were  too 
closely  inhabited  to  leave  room  for  burial  within  the  first  mile. 
The  outside  limit  was  determined  by  considerations  of  con- 
venience, and  as  a  matter  of  fact  none  of  the  Roman  catacombs 
are  found  beyond  the  third  mile.  Those  which  lie  at  a  greater 
distance  belonged  to  the  villages  of  the  Campagna. 

We  have  already  seen  in  brief  what  were  the  natural  re- 
quirements to  be  sought  in  choosing  the  site  of  a  catacomb ; 
the  conditions  of  a  well-drained  surface  and  of  a  proper  quality 
of  tufa  were  so  obvious  that  Michele  Stefano  de  Rossi,  who 
brought  to  the  aid  of  his  brother's  work  his  own  knowledge  as 
geologist  and  engineer,  was  often  able,  by  determining  where 
a  catacomb  ought  to  be,  to  discover  where  it  actually  was.     To 


;y, 


CEMETERIES 


Michele  Stefano  de  Rossi  is  also  due  a  careful  computation  of 

the  total  length  of  the  galleries  of  the  catacombs  ;  it  is  founded 
upon  a  calculation  of  the  average  development  of  the  galleries 
under  a  given  square  area  of  surface,  and  it  gives  as  result 
something  over  550  miles.  So  great  an  extension  of  the  ti- 
leries was  rendered  possible  by  the  several  levels  of  excavation 
which  were  worked  at  depths  of  from  eight  to  twenty-five  yards 
beneath  the  surface. 

THE    FOSSORS 

Such  vast  works  as  are  represented  by  the  Roman  catacombs 
were  not  executed  at  haphazard ;  they  demanded  some  skilled 

direction,  not  only  for 
the  selection  of  sites, 
but  for  the  constant  ex- 
tension of  the  excava- 
tion. And  in  fact  the 
excavators — fossores — 
constituted  a  sort  of 
guild.  To  them  was 
committed  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  dead  for 
burial,  as  well  as  their 
actual  interment;  but 
to  their  office  there 
attached  none  of  the 
ignominy  which  made 
contemptible  the  name 
of  those  who  performed 
similar  functions  in  the  pagan  community  —  the  vespiUones. 
On  the  contrary,  they  were  proud  of  their  title  and  inscribed 
it  upon  their  tombs  as  a  mark  of  dignity  and  merit.  In  the 
third  century  the  fossors  were  actually  reckoned  among  the 
clergy  as  the  lowest  grade ;  and  in  the  fourth  it  appears  (from 
several  inscriptions  which  speak  of  tombs  bought  from  fossors) 
that  they  had  the  general  control  of  the  cemeteries.  On  the 
tombstones  are  often  represented  the  tools  of  the  fossor,  and 
in  the  frescos,  the  fossor  at  work  (Fig.  7).  How  far  the  fos- 
sors of  the  several  cemeteries  were  united  by  their  craft  we 
have  no  clear  indication.     It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  the 


.  —  Arcosolium  of  the  fossor  Diogenes,  a  fresco  in 
the  catacomb  of  Callistus.     Third  century. 


THE  CATACOMBS  AND    THE    TITLES  37 

different  catacombs,  for  ;ill  their  similarity,  ;u'c  marked  by 
certain  differences  which  indicate  not  only  a  separate  history, 
but,  an  independent  tradition  in  the  style  of  decoration. 

THE   CATAC0M  us    A  \  D    THE    TITLES 

Besides  the  fossors,  there  must  have  been  a  higher  authority 
charged  with  the  general  superintendence  of  the  catacombs. 
During  the  earliest  period,  while  the  cemeteries  were  still 
private  property  and  represented  an  extension  of  the  family 
tomb  to  include  those  who  were  of  the  same  family  in  the 
faith,  we  can  only  represent  to  ourselves  that  they  were  held 
at  the  disposition  of  the  noble  owners.  But  when,  with  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century,  they  became  virtually,  if  not 
legally,  the  corporate  property  of  the  Church,  we  cannot  but 
think  of  them  in  some  strict  relation  to  the  regular  ecclesiasti- 
cal organization.  And,  in  fact,  Hippolytus,  in  his  Philosophu- 
mena,  reports  that  about  the  year  197  the  Roman  Bishop 
Zephyrinus  appointed  his  deacon  Callistus  to  the  charge  of 
the  "cemetery."  This  is  evidently  the  cemetery  which  still 
bears  the  name  of  Callistus,  though  he  himself  was  not  buried 
there ;  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  why  this  cemetery  in  par- 
ticular should  depend  directly  from  the  bishop,  for  it  had 
become  —  after  the  cemetery  of  the  Vatican  ceased  to  be  used 
for  this  purpose  —  the  ordinary  place  of  burial  for  the  heads  of 
the  Roman  Church.  We  have  evidence  for  the  continuance 
of  this  relation  about  a  century  later  in  an  inscription  which 
recounts  that  a  deacon  of  Marcellinus,  with  permission  of  that 
pope,  prepared  for  himself  in  the  cemetery  of  Callistus  a 
double  cubiculum  with  arcosolia  and  lucernarium.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  the  neighboring  cemetery  of  Domitilla  there  was 
found  the  following  inscription  :  ALEXIVS  ET  CAPRIOLA 
EECERVNT  SE  VIVI  IVSSV  ARCHELAI  ET  DVLCITI 
PRESBB;  that  is  to  say,  a  certain  husband  and  wife  con- 
structed this  tomb  in  their  lifetime  with  permission  of  the 
Presbyters  Archelaus  and  Dulcitus,  who  evidently  exercised 
the  chief  authority  over  this  cemetery.  They  were  probably 
presbyters  of  the  Titulus  Fasciolce,  the  parish  church  within 
the  wralls,with  which  a  number  of  epitaphs  distinctly  connect 
this  cemetery,  the  same  church  which  has  borne  the  name  of 


38  CEMETERIES 

SS.  Nereus  and  A.chilleus,  since  in  the  ninth  century  the 
bodies  of  these  saints  were  removed  thither  from  the  cemetery 
of  Domitilla. 

De  Rossi  has  been  able  from  inscriptions  to  establish  the 
connection  between  several  of  the  cemeteries  and  particular 
titles  of  the  city,  and  the  suggestion  is  obvious  enough  that 
cadi  parish  church  had  its  corresponding  cemetery.  This 
arrangement  may  very  well  have  been  observed  from  the 
beginning.  Some  of  the  titles  are  as  old  as  the  earliest  use  of 
a  private  house  for  Christian  worship.  The  Domus  Ecclesice 
took  its  special  title  from  the  name  of  the  owner  :  —  Domus  or 
Tituhis  Purft'iitis  {Erdcsia  Pudentiana  as  it  was  called  later), 
Praxedis,  Equitii,  etc.  While  the  church  was  accommodated 
in  the  house  of  a  wealthy  benefactor,  the  cemeteries  may  have 
been  excavated  under  his  suburban  villa,  and  the  community 
which  worshipped  in  that  title  would  naturally  be  the  one  to 
use  the  cemetery  associated  with  it. 

In  the  Liber  Pontificalis  it  is  recorded  of  Fabianus  (shortly 
after  Callistus) :  Hie  regiones  divisit  diaconibus  et  multas  fabri- 
cas  per  ccemeteria  fieri  iussit.  Of  the  cemeterial  buildings  we 
shall  have  to  speak  later;  as  to  the  deacons,  it  is  well  known 
that  the  Roman  Church  maintained  the  number  seven,  in  imi- 
tation of  the  "  seven  "  who  were  originally  appointed  in  Jerusa- 
lem. By  reason  of  the  fewness  of  their  number  and  their 
close  relation  to  the  bishop  they  enjoyed  an  authority  which 
exceeded  that  of  the  presbyters,  and  the  successor  to  the  epis- 
copate was  usually  taken  from  their  number.  The  civil  regions 
of  Rome  were  fourteen ;  to  each  of  the  seven  diaconal  estab- 
lishments, which  were  designed  to  administer  to  the  temporal 
wants  of  the  Church,  there  must  have  been  allotted  two  of  the 
civil  regions.  The  titles  of  the  city  were  twenty-five  in  num- 
ber in  the  third  century —  roughly  two  of  them  to  every  civil 
region.  That  they  were  charged  not  only  with  spiritual  care 
of  the  people  and  with  the  more  obvious  parochial  duties,  but 
with  the  administration  of  the  cemeteries,  we  can  infer  from  a 
notice  in  the  Liber  Pontificalis  concerning  Pope  Marcellus,  at 
the  very  end  of  the  period  of  persecution :  XXV  titulos  in  urbe 
Romana  constituit  quasi  dioceses,  propter  baptismum  et  poeniten- 
tiam  midtorum  qui  convertebantur  ex  paganis,  et  propter  sepul- 
turas    martyrum.       "  He    instituted    in    the    city    of    Rome 


THE   CATACOMBS   AND    THE   TITLES  39 

twenty-five  titles  as  parishes,  for  the  baptism  and  penitence 
of  the  many  who  were  converted  from  the  pagans,  and  for  the 
burial  of  the  martyrs."  There  are  reckoned  thirty-two  public 
cemeteries  for  Rome,  —  a  Dumber  which  precisely  corresponds 
with  the  sum  of  the  twenty-five  titles  and  the  seven  deaeon- 
ries.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  a  strict  uniformity  in  the 
distribution  of  the  cemeteries,  in  such  wise  that  the  smallest 
congregations  hud  curb  one  and  the  largest  hud  no  more;  but 
there  is  sufficient  proof  of  a  general  distribution  amongst  the 
titles.  Dionysius  reorganized  the  cemeterial  administration 
(according  to  the  Liber  Pontificalia)  after  Gallienus  had  revoked 
the  edict  of  his  father  which  had  prohibited  meetings  in  the 
cemeteries:  Hie  presbyteris  ecclesias  divisit  et  coimeteria  et paro- 
chias  et  dioceses  constituit. 

We  learn  that  there  were  commonly  two  priests  attached  to 
each  title.  Of  these,  one  alone  was  the  proper  titular,  and 
the  other  his  subordinate ;  —  as  we  learn  from  a  letter  of 
S.  Cyprian:  Felix  qui  presbyterium  subministrdbat  sub  Decimo. 
The  same  system  was  maintained  in  Rome  in  the  time  of 
Pope  Damasus  (as  we  learn  from  a  passage  by  S.  Ambrose,  on 
1  Tim.  3)  :  Nunc  autem  septem  diaconos  esse  oportet  et  aliquantos 
presbyteros  ut  bini  sint  per  ecclesias  —  that  there  be  two  priests 
for  each  church.  This  dual  number  of  priests  for  each  parish 
is  explained  by  the  relation  of  the  titular  basilica  to  the 
basilica  which  was  connected  with  the  cemetery.  The  number 
of  Roman  churches  early  in  the  third  century  is  indicated  in  a 
passage  of  Optatus  Milevitanus,  in  which  he  says,  that  among 
the  forty  or  more  basilicas  the  Donatists  had  no  place  where 
they  might  meet.  According  to  the  testimony  of  Eusebius  the 
Roman  Church  had  in  the  time  of  Cornelius  forty-six  priests 
—  a  number  which  very  well  corresponds  with  the  "  forty  or 
more  basilicas."  Besides  the  twenty-five  titles  there  wrere, 
therefore,  something  like  twenty-one  cemeterial  basilicas  which 
were  in  the  charge  of  the  parochial  clergy,  who  took  their 
titles,  however,  not  from  the  cemeteries,  but  from  the  basilicas 
within  the  city.  So  much  for  the  administration  of  the  cata- 
combs; the  question  of  their  legal  tenure  (a  matter  of  even 
greater  interest)  must  be  treated  at  large  in  another  place. 
The  light  which  the  study  of  the  catacombs  throws  upon  the 
administration  of  the  Roman  Church  has  more  than  a  merely 


•10  CEMETERIES 

local    interest,  for  from  the  first   it   was  the  Church  in  tin'  Capi- 

tol  of  tin'  Empire  which  constituted  the  norm  of  ecclesiastical 
government . 

THE    <ll  I ;  I s  I  I  \  \     MODE    OP    BURIAL 

Their  is  one  question  which  poses  itself  almost  at  the  very 
mention  of  the  catacombs :  Why  did  the  Christians  resort  to  a 
mode  of  burial  so  different  from  the  prevalent  custom  of  the 
Graeco-Roinan  world  ?  There  is  certainly  a  problem  here  which 
demands  some  explanation;  but  before  all,  one's  first  idea  of 
the  singularity  of  the  Christian  mode  of  burial  must  suffer 
considerable  reduction:  all  the  catacombs  are  not  Christian, 
nor  were  all  the  Christian  cemeteries  subterranean.  Even  in 
Rome  the  Vatican  cemetery,  which  must  have  been  used  by 
the  Church  since  the  burial  of  8.  Peter,  was  chiefly  on  the  sur- 
face ;  the  nature  of  the  rock  did  not  admit  of  deep  excavation, 
the  bodies  were  deposited  in  trenches  after  the  same  manner  as 
is  customary  to-day,  or  the  sarcophagi  were  left  exposed  above 
the  surface  of  the  soil.  Throughout  the  Roman  cemeteries, 
burial  on  the  surface  rapidly  overtook  during  the  fourth 
century,  and  by  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  it  had  quite  super- 
seded, burial  in  the  catacombs. 

In  the  East  general^,  where  inhumation  was  commonly 
practised,  the  Christian  converts  found  in  their  creed  no  reason 
to  modify  essentially  the  mode  of  interment  or  the  type  of 
cemetery  which  was  traditional  to  their  particular  race  or 
nation.  In  Egypt  during  the  Roman  rule  the  mode  of  burial 
for  pagan  and  Christian  alike  was  of  the  simplest  possible :  the 
body  was  merely  buried  in  the  dry  sand,  dressed  in  common 
garb,  and  without  sarcophagus,  coffin,  or  shroud.  In  Syria, 
according  to  national  tradition,  the  character  of  the  tombs  was 
very  various.  The  commonest  was  a  plain  sarcophagus,  all  of 
it  buried  except  its  rooflike  lid,  or  a  similar  lid  covering  a 
rock-hewn  trench.  But  there  were  also  chamber  tombs  hewn 
in  the  rock  and  faced  with  a  Greek  porch  or  other  architectural 
ornament.  The  most  characteristic  Syrian  type  of  sepulchre 
was  the  tegurium,  a  pyramidal  roof  supported  above  a  sarcopha- 
gus by  four  pillars.  In  North  Africa  Christian  burial  was 
always,  so  far  as  we  know,  in  the  surface  soil.  Surface  ceme- 
teries were  not  uncommon  in  Italy ;  the  most  extensive  remains 


CHRISTIAN  MODI-:   OF  BURIAL  41 

are  at  Portogruaro  (Julia  Concordia);  curious  is  the  arrange- 
ment  of  the  great  stone  sarcophagi  in  groups  of  ten  and  twelve. 
In  the  Northern  countries  the  open  air  cemeteries  greatly  pre- 
dominated,—  in  France,  in  the  Rhine  country,  in  Dalniatia, 
and  in  [stria.  II.  would  be  going  too  far  afield  to  describe  the 
various  Tonus  which  the  Christian  tomb  exhibits  in  different 
lands.  Such  an  account  would  almost  constitute  a  treatise 
upon  ancient  modes  of  sepulture,  for  the  Christians  generally 
continued  without  scruple  the  customs  of  burial  to  which  they 
were  used  as  "entiles. 


Fig.  8.  —  Sarcophagus  in  the  catacomb  of  Priscilla.     Second  century. 

On  the  other  hand,  catacombs  are  not  confined  to  Pome  and 
Italy ;  they  are  found  in  the  Rhine  country,  e.g.  at  Cologne 
and  in  other  lands.  Subterranean  burial  was  probably 
regarded  as  the  most  specifically  Christian  mode  of  interment. 

It  is  particularly  in  the  centres  of  Graeco-Roinan  civilization, 
where  cremation  prevailed,  that  the  Christian  mode  of  burial 
seems  in  sharpest  contrast  with  gentile  custom.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  practice  of  inhumation  was  prescribed  by  the 
new  faith  and  obligatory  upon  all  the  faithful ;  with  a  naive 
conception  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  cremation  seemed 
irreconcilable.  There  was  also  a  strong  repulsion  to  burial 
amongst  heathen.  It  was  therefore  in  the  nature  of  the  case 
that  Christians  must  be  buried,  and  that  they  must  be  buried 
together.  As  for  the  matter  of  burial,  it  was  by  no  means 
unknown  even  among  the  Romans.  In  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve 
Tables  burial  and  burning  were  both  contemplated,  and  burial 
was  mentioned  first.  Some  of  the  great  Roman  families  —  like 
the  Scipios  —  maintained  the  early  tradition,  burying  their  dead 
in  sarcophagi  in  the  family  crypt  surmounted  by  a  monument. 


42 


CEMETERIES 


In  the  third  cenl ury  the  custom  of  inhumation  rapidly  spread 
—  whether  through  the  influence  of  Christian  example,  or 
through  the  popular  adoption  of  Oriental  cults  and  fashions. 
From  this  period  date  the  richly  carved 
pagan  sarcophagi.  Home  therefore  pre- 
served in  some  measure  the  traditions 
of  underground  burial  which  were  de- 
rived immediately  from  the  Etruscans. 
The  Etruscan  tombs,  with  their  numer- 
ous chambers  and  their  sculptured  and 
painted  decoration,  present  a  most  strik- 
ing analogy  to  the  Christian  catacombs. 
I>ut  these  tombs  were  derived  in  turn 
from  the  Phoenician  custom,  which  was 
disseminated  widely  —  and  no  doubt 
especially  in  Judea  —  by  this  active 
merchant  people. 

The  nearest  analogy  to  the  Christian 
catacombs  is  furnished  by  the  under- 
ground cemeteries  of  the  Jews,  which 
have  been  discovered  at  Rome.  One  of 
these  on  the  via  Appia  is  accessible  to 
the  public  and  may  conveniently  be 
visited  along  wTith  the  catacombs  of 
Callistus  and  Domitilla.  One  will  notice 
certain  differences  of  construction,  such 
as  distinguish  even  the  different  Chris- 
tian catacombs  from  one  another;  but 
there  is  the  same  arrangement  of  gal- 
leries and  cubicula,  the  same  method  of 
accommodating  the  tombs,  the  same 
decoration  in  paint  and  plaster ;  and 
\j^y^  ^  ^  5&Hjjgl  in  general,  except  for  the  presence  of 
'  Jewish  formulas  and  symbols  and  for 
the  absence  of  Christian,  one  would  see 
no  reason  to  distinguish  them  from 
Christian  cemeteries  of  the  Eoman  type.  They  can  none  of 
them  claim  so  ancient  a  foundation  as  the  Christian  ;  but  they 
suggest  nevertheless,  and  plainly  enough,  that  the  origin  of  the 
Christian  mode  of  burial  is  to  be  sought  in  Jewish  custom.     It 


Fig.  9.  —  Lead  coffin  from  Saida, 
Phoenicia.      Fourth  century. 


WORSHIP  IN   THE   CATACOMBS  4.'J 

is  not  unreasonable  to  credit  in  particular  a  considerable  influ- 
ence to  the  memory  of  the  rock-hewri  tomb  in  which  the  body 

of  our  Lord  was  laid. 

We  must  recognize  that  the  Christian  catacombs  when  com- 
pared with  pagan  monuments  of  similar  character  present  qo 
essential  difference  of  type  :  it  is  only  by  reason  of  their  great 
extent  that  they  strike  us  as  something  altogether  strange  and 
unparalleled.  The  original  Christian  hypogeum  (the  nucleus  of 
all  the  catacombs)  consisted  in  a  group  of  crypts  connected  by 
short  galleries,  and  its  likeness  to  Etruscan  and  Oriental  tombs 
is  so  obvious  that  the  question  of  origin  need  hardly  be  raised. 
The  way  of  subterranean  burial  having  once  been  struck  out, 
the  subsequent  complexity  and  extent  followed  as  a  matter  of 
course  upon  the  rapid  increase  of  the  Church.  De  Rossi  has 
observed  that  no  essential  distinction  can  be  drawn  between  the 
Christian  catacombs  on  the  one  hand,  and  Phoenician,  Etruscan, 
and  Jewish  tombs  on  the  other ;  except  that  in  the  former  the 
tombs  were  always  sealed  so  as  to  permit  visits  to  the  cemetery, 
while  in  the  latter  they  were  always  open. 

WORSHIP    IN    THE    CATACOMBS 

This  single  peculiarity  of  the  Christian  cemetery  is  to  be 
referred  to  the  custom  of  holding  religious  services  within  the 
crypts,  not  only  at  the  time  of  the  deposition  of  the  body, 
but  on  the  anniversary  of  the  death  or  burial.  S.  Augustine 
says  expressly  that  the  eucharistic  sacrifice  was  offered  at  the 
tomb,  and  he  mentions  it  in  particular  at  the  deposition  of  his 
mother.  Among  the  crypts  of  the  catacombs  there  are  many 
which  cannot  but  be  recognized  as  veritable  underground 
chapels,  which  were  evidently  constructed  expressly  for  wor- 
ship, even  though  they  were  incidentally  utilized  for  burial,  or 
primarily  represented  the  tomb  of  a  saint. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  a  chapel  of  the  third  cen- 
tury in  the  Ostrian  cemetery  which  presents  substantially  the 
scheme  of  the  church  edifice  as  it  appeared  after  the  Peace  of 
the  Church.  There  we  see  the  apse  and  the  apsidal  arch,  with 
the  episcopal  chair  in  the  centre  and  the  presbyters'  bench  on 
each  side.  We  have  to  suppose  that  a  wooden  altar  was 
placed  before   the   chair.     The  presbytery  is  distinctly  sepa- 


44  CEMETERIES 

rated  from  the  nave  1>\  the  pillars  which  support  the  arch. 
The  dhair  carved  in  tufa  is  a  peculiarity  <>r  the  ostrianum,  and 
it  is  repeated  there  verj  frequently.  In  case  there  is  no  apse, 
or  the  apse  is  occupied  by  a  tomb  of  the  arcosoliuih  type,  the 
chair  is  found  beside  the  tomb  (the  stone  covering  of  which 
probably  served  for  the  holy  table),  or  it  is  located  at  the 
middle  of  the  side  wall.  The  arrangement  of  these  chapels 
seems  to  indicate  that  the  custom  of  celebrating  the  Eucharist 
was  already  substantially  developed  as  it  is  at  present;  that 
the  presbyter  alone  stood  (or  perhaps  sat)  at  the  holy  table, 
and  the  communicants  approached  it  only  at  the  moment  of 
communion. 

In  some  of  the  earlier  chapels,  however,  we  seem  to  have  a 
witness  to  more  primitive  custom.  For  example,  the  so-called 
capella  greca  (Fig.  3),  which  belongs  to  the  beginning  of  the 
second  century,  though  it  terminates  in  an  apse  and  has  two 
deep  lateral  apses  in  the  form  of  a  transept,  has  no  special 
seat  for  the  priest  or  bishop.  One  will  hardly  be  inclined  to 
lay  any  stress  upon  the  cross  shape  which  the  chapel  actually 
presents,  for  the  apses  are  nothing  more  than  broad  tombs 
ad  arcosolium,  and  there  is  no  distinct  place  indicated  for 
altar,  presbytery,  or  nave.  Besides  the  rich  decoration  there 
is  only  one  thing  which  distinctly  marks  it  as  a  place  for 
public  worship ;  that  is,  the  tufa  bench  which  runs  along  one 
side  and  is  practically  continued  on  another  by  the  surface  of 
the  tomb  under  the  central  apse.  One  must  imagine  a  wooden 
table  carried  in  upon  occasion,  and  one  cannot  but  see  in  this 
whole  disposition  an  arrangement  for  the  seating  of  the  com- 
municants at  the  eucharistic  table  according  to  the  earliest 
Christian  custom  at  the  breaking  of  bread.  And,  in  fact,  on 
the  arch  of  the  central  apse,  Wilpert  has  lately  discovered,  by 
removing  the  calcarious  deposit  which  covered  the  wall,  an 
eucharistic  scene  (Fig.  74)  which  may  very  well  represent 
what  the  artist  himself  had  witnessed  in  this  chapel  (see 
p.  227). 

When  the  custom  which  we  see  portrayed  in  this  picture  had 
to  be  abandoned  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  communicants, 
and  the  congregation  could  no  longer  sit  about  a  common  table, 
it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  priest  retained  his  old  position, 
seated  beside  the  tomb  (as  is  indicated  by  the  chairs  of  the 


WORSHIP  IN   THE   CATACOMBS 


\:> 


Fig.  10.  —  Papal  crypt  in  the  catacomb  of  Callistus,     Restored  as  it  was  in  the 
fourth  century. 


4G  CEMETERIES 

ostrianum  |,and  not  standing,  according  to  1  lie  later  fashion,  with 
his  back  t<>  the  people.  It.  has  hem  commonly  claimed,  and 
too  readily  allowed,  that  all  the  tombs  ad  arcosolium  were 
expressly  constructed,  or  at  least  commonly  used,  for  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Eucharist.  In  olden  time  they  were  supposed 
to  be  the  mark  of  a  martyr's  grave.  In  view  of  the  modern 
practice  which  has  reduced  the  altar  of  the  church  to  a  mere 
shelf  against  the  wall,  this  supposition  seems  natural  enough. 
But  in  an  age  when  the  primitive  conception  of  the  altar  as  the 
common  table  was  still  preserved,  when  the  very  position  of 
the  altar  between  the  priest  and  the  people  still  expressed 
this  idea,  the  eucharistic  use  of  these  so-called  table  tombs, 
in  the  manner  which  is  commonly  supposed,  is  very  far  from 
obvious.  Furthermore,  the  frequent  and  practically  private 
Eucharists  which  this  view  implies  are  hardly  to  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  jealousy  of  the  Roman  bishop  for  his  preroga- 
tive as  the  proper  dispenser  of  the  Eucharist  —  a  jealousy 
which  went  so  far  that  the  consecration  of  the  Eucharist  was 
not  allowed  even  in  the  churches,  without  the  presence  of  the 
express  mandate  of  the  bishop,  and  the  congregations  wrere 
obliged  to  wait  for  the  consecrated  elements  which  were  car- 
ried to  them  by  the  deacons  from  the  episcopal  altar.  There 
were  doubtless  private  services  in  the  catacombs,  —  in  the 
family  cubicula,  and  at  the  burial  of  the  humblest  disciple,  — 
but  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  services  in  the  chapels,  and  more 
particularly  at  the  graves  of  the  martyrs,  had  distinctly  a  public 
character,  and  was  representative  of  the  whole  Church,  even 
if  but  few  worshippers  could  convene.  The  episcopal  chair  (for 
example  in  such  a  chapel  as  that  we  have  described  in  the 
Ostrian  cemetery)  clearly  implies  the  bishop's  presence. 

The  catacombs  were  therefore  used,  and  in  a  measure 
expressly  constructed,  for  public  as  well  as  for  private  wor- 
ship. But  the  extent  of  their  public  use  has  been  singularly 
exaggerated,  in  clear  contradiction  to  the  witness  of  the  monu- 
ments themselves.  It  is  popularly  supposed  that  they  were 
a  regular  resort  for  the  assembly  of  the  Church  during  the 
centuries  of  persecution.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  few  of  the 
chapels  could  accommodate  as  many  as  fifty  persons,  and  even 
if  we  take  account  of  the  neighboring  corridors  and  cubicula  the 


THE  AJIEA  AND   ITS  BUILDINGS  47 

immber  of  worshippers  could  hardly  exceed  one  hundred,  u  bile 

the  catacombs  themselves  prove  that  the  membership  of  the 
Roman  Church  in  the  third  century  was  counted  by  the  tens  of 
thousands.  We  shall  see  in  another  place  that  the  pictured 
decoration  of  the  catacombs  referred  predominantly,  if  not 
exclusively,  to  the  themes  which  were  associated  with  death 
or  rather  with  the  Christian  hope  which  illuminated  it.  And 
it  must  be  recognized  that  the  religious  services  which  were 
ordinarily  held  in  the  subterranean  chapels  were  expressly 
associated  with  the  funeral  offices  and  with  the  memory  of  the 
departed.  One  can,  indeed,  readily  imagine  that  the  catacombs 
proved  often  a  safe  and  welcome  resort  in  seasons  of  severe 
persecution  when  public  worship  may  have  been  impossible 
elsewhere,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  credit  the  accounts  of 
such  meetings,  as  they  are  reported  in  the  lives  of  the  saints, 
though  this  use  was  doubtless  exceptional. 

CONSTRUCTIONS    ABOVE    GROUND 

The  notion  that  the  Church  adopted  subterranean  burial  to 
protect  the  tombs  from  the  desecration  they  must  have  suf- 
fered had  they  been  publicly  known,  or  to  hide  from  the  state 
the  names  or  numbers  of  its  members,  rests  upon  a  complete 
ignorance  of  the  sacred  protection  which  was  accorded  by  the 
Roman  law  to  every  sepulchre,  and  it  stands  opposed  to  the 
fact  that  the  catacombs  were,  in  fact,  not  secret.  The  confisca- 
tion of  the  Christian  cemeteries  under  Valerian  (258)  and  Dio- 
cletian (303),  and  their  subsequent  restitution  under  Gallienus 
and  Maxentius,  as  well  as  the  edict  of  Milan  (313),  which 
restored  to  the  Christians  ("  ad  jus  corporis  eorum ")  the 
churches  and  cemeteries  which  belonged  to  them,  proves  that 
the  catacombs  were  not  only  known  to  the  authorities,  but  also 
clearly  recognized  as  the  corporate  property  of  the  Church. 
Nor  was  there,  indeed,  any  attempt  to  hide  the  catacombs ;  the 
original  entrances  (a  number  of  which  have  been  rediscovered) 
faced  the  public  roads,  and  each  faqade  doubtless  bore  an 
inscription  indicating  the  extent  of  the  cemetery  and  the  name 
of  the  owner  of  the  property. 

The  area  must  have  been  marked  by  distinct  boundaries  and 
devoted  to  the  cemeterial  structures  which  Christian  as  well 


■IS 


CEMETERIES 


as  pagan  custom  required  as  adjuncts  to  the  tomb.  There  is 
nothing  bo  inform  us  by  what  term  the  Christians  in  Rome  dis- 
tinguished the  superficial  area  from  their  subterranean  excava- 
tions ;  the  word  "cemetery  *'  referred  equally  to  both.  It  is  this 
broad  significance  of  the  word  which  lias  given  rise  to  the 
notion  thai  the  Christians  sometimes  actually  retired  to  live 
in  the  catacombs.  The  Liber  Pontificalia,  in  the  life  of  Libe- 
rius,  says:  <>o<h>m  fcmjiore  (Constantius)  misit  et  revocavit  Libe- 
rium  ilr  ccemeterio  beatce  Agnes  ubi  sedebat;  and  in  the  life  of 


Fig.  11. 


Boniface  I.,  hdbitavit  Bonifacius  in  ccemeterio  sanctce  Felicitatis 
martiris  via  Solaria.  By  dwelling  "in  the  cemetery"  is  evi- 
dently meant,  in  some  house  connected  with  the  cemeterial 
chapels  or  basilicas,  or  perhaps  in  the  villa  under  which  the 
cemetery  may  have  been  originally  excavated. 

In  Africa  the  superficial  cemetery  was  called  an  area.  In 
several  places  in  Italy  the  name  hortus  (garden)  was  applied 
to  the  cemeteries,  and  this  word  is  sufficiently  suggestive  of 
the  appearance  of  the  place.  The  area  was  surrounded  by  a 
hedge   or   wall,    and   it  was  planted  wTith  cypresses  and  en- 


SURFACE   BURIAL  l.< 

livened  with  Bowers  as  are  the  cem^tefries  of  to-day.  Traces 
of  the  wall  have  been  discovered  a1  S.  Callistus,  and  the  wall 
about  the  cemetery  of  Cyriaca  in  agro  Verano  (which  is  the 
present  campo  santo  of  Koine)  was  adorned  in  part  by  porches 
on  its  inner  side.  Even  if  these  constructions  are  subsequent 
to  the  Peace  of  the  Church,  they  no  doubt  represent  substan- 
tially the  early  mode  of  marking  the  boundaries  of  the  hortus. 

Within  the  garden  were  constructed  a  number  of  buildings 
for  various  uses.  Among  them  were  the  cellce  or  tru  moria 
of  the  martyrs,  which  in  some  respects  took  the  place  of  the 
monumental  tombs  of  the  pagans.  They  were,  however,  in- 
tended rather  for  use  than  for  display ;  and  they  were  spe- 
cially adapted  for  worship  or  for  the  celebration  of  the  funeral 
agape.  Above  the  cemetery  of  Callistus  two  chapels  of  this 
character  still  exist,  and  one  of  them  has  lately  been  restored. 
They  each  have  three  apses,  which  was  a  common  feature  of 
the  cemeterial  chapel.  After  the  Peace  of  the  Church,  great 
basilicas  were  erected  above  all  the  cemeteries,  in  honor  of  the 
Apostles  and  martyrs  who  were  buried  belowr.  Besides  the 
Apostolic  basilicas,  those  of  S.  Lorenzo,  S  Sebastian,  and  S. 
Agnes  have  alone  been  continuously  in  use ;  but  the  basilica 
of  S.  Petronilla  has  recently  been  discovered  and  restored,  and 
enough  remains  of  others  to  mark  at  least  their  position  and 
plan. 

The  basilica  erected  in  the  fourth  century  in  memory  of  S. 
Valentine  presents  an  interesting  peculiarity :  as  the  steepness 
of  the  hill  made  it  impossible  to  include  the  tomb  of  the  saint 
within  the  church,  the  body  was  removed  and  placed  under 
the  altar  of  the  church,  which  was  built  beneath  the  hill. 
This  is  perhaps  the  only  instance  of  the  translation  of  a  body 
during  the  fourth  century;  so  great  scruple  was  felt  about 
disturbing  the  body  of  a  saint  that  the  cemeterial  basilica  had 
often  to  be  half  buried  in  the  earth  (as  is  S.  Agnes  and  S. 
Petronilla),  cutting  through  several  floors  of  the  catacomb  in 
order  to  accommodate  the  altar  immediately  above  the  tomb. 
But  the  most  striking  peculiarity  in  this  case  is  the  imitation 
catacomb  constructed  beneath  the  church.  The  tribune  was 
raised  about  four  feet  above  the  nave,  and  behind  the  front 
wall  of  this  platform  there  was  constructed  a  narrow  gallery 
(like  those  of  the  catacombs,  but  lined   with  marble)  which 


50  CEMETERIES 

illicit  be  entered  al  either  end  by  a  descent  of  a  few  steps 
from  ilif  side  aisles.  In  the  middle  of  this  corridor  and  di- 
rectly beneath  the  altar  was  a  small  crypt  in  which  reposed 
the  body  of  the  martyr.  This  monument  throws  a  most  in- 
teresting light  upon  the  history  of  the  crypt  or  confessio  which 
is  so  marked  a  feature  of  Italian  churches  (see  p.  104). 

With  the  reign  of  <  lonstantine  burial  in  the  subterranean  ceme- 
teries began  to  grow  less  and  less  frequent,  and  with  the  invasion 
of  Alaric  (410)  it  ceased  altogether.  The  tombs  which  were 
constructed  in  the  surface  soil  were  at  Rome  predominately 
of  a  single  type :  a  narrow  trench  lined  with  brick,  and  often 
deep  enough  to  contain  ten  bodies  laid  one  above  another  and 
separated  by  plates  of  stone.  Such  graves  have  been  dis- 
covered above  many  of  the  Roman  cemeteries :  at  S.  Callistus 
they  may  be  seen  grouped  about  the  chapel  of  S.  Sixtus. 
From  this  it  was  an  easy  step  to  burial  within  the  atrium  of 
the  cemeterial  basilicas  ;  and  when,  by  reason  of  the  barbarian 
invasions,  the  surface  cemeteries  without  the  walls  were  ex- 
posed to  outrage,  the  city  churches  became  the  centres  of  new 
cemeteries ;  —  and  all  the  more  readily  because  the  city  itself 
was  in  large  measure  depopulated. 

THE    AGAPE 

But  to  return  again  to  the  cemeteries  of  an  earlier  age, 
before  the  Peace  of  the  Church.  The  cemeterial  gardens  con- 
tained not  only  buildings  designed  for  a  distinctly  religious 
use,  but  also  halls  for  the  agape,  habitations  for  the  curators, 
fossors,  etc.  The  pagan  burying  places  contained  (beside  the 
monument,  or  perhaps  within  it)  rooms  for  various  uses,  and 
chiefly  the  hall  or  schola  for  the  funeral  feasts,  which  were 
celebrated  annually  and  were  provided  for  by  an  endowment 
which  was  inalienable  like  the  monument  itself.  The  Christians, 
too,  had  in  the  funeral  agape  a  custom  which  demanded  just 
such  rooms,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  earliest  buildings  con- 
nected with  the  catacombs  were  designed  for  this  purpose.  The 
original  vestibules  (as  for  instance  that  of  S.  Priscilla)  may  very 
well  have  served  this  use.  The  vestibule  of  the  Flavian  hypogeu  m 
(S.  Dornitilla),  belonging  to  the  first  century,  constitutes,  how- 
ever, an  unique  instance  of  a  room  obviously  constructed  for  the 


THE  AGAPE 


51 


agape.  The  large  triclinium  retains  traces  of  the  stone  bench 
which  once  surrounded  it.  A  smaller  room  at  the  end  is  decorated 

in  fresco,  and  was  occupied —  we  may  suppose  —  by  the  family. 

Adjoining  it  is  the  kitchen,  in  which  were  found  various 
utensils  and  large  amphorae  for  the  wine.  At  the  other  end 
is  a  well  and  a  cistern.  This  hall  is  only  in  part  underground ; 
it  is  constructed  of  the  finest  brickwork,  with  an  ornamental 
facade  covering  the  approach  to  the  cemetery,  and  it  had 
originally  a  richer  front  upon  the  road. 

The  Christian  agape  presents  an  interesting  study,  and  one 
link  in  its  history  is  only  to  be  explained  by  the  monuments 
of  the  catacombs. 
The  agape  was  the 
earliest  form  in  which 
Christian  charity  was 
manifested  toward 
the  poor  of  the 
Church;  it  was  a 
feast  in  which  all, 
rich  and  poor,  shared 
alike  from  the  com- 
mon stock.  It  was 
originally  the  supper 
which  preceded  the 
Eucharist.  Various 
grave  disorders,  con- 
nected with  the  agape,  but  especially  the  breach  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  charity  and  brotherhood,  obliged  S.  Paul  to  regu- 
late the  eucharistic  practice  of  the  Corinthian  Church.  We 
may  suppose  that  his  settlement  of  the  matter  amounted  to 
a  definite  separation  of  the  Eucharist  from  the  agape,  though 
the  change  was  not  accomplished  everywhere  at  the  same 
time.  The  agape  continued  to  maintain  its  place  as  an  or- 
dinary feature  of  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Day;  but  in 
consequence  of  this  separation,  the  Eucharist  was  celebrated 
early  in  the  morning  and  the  agape  in  the  evening.  The 
letter  of  Pliiry  to  the  Emperor  Trajan  about  the  Christians  of 
Bithynia  helps  us  to  realize  how,  under  stress  of  the  suspi- 
cion of  the  Imperial  authorities,  the  celebration  of  the  agape 
as  an  ordinary  function  of  the  Church  had  to  be  relinquished. 


Fig.  12.  — Tombstone  with  graffito,  in  the  Museo 
Kireheriano. 


52  CEMETERIES 

Ami  we  can  readily  represenl  to  ourselves  how  it  might  still 
be  Legally  continued  as  a  funeral  least,  at  the  cemeteries,  since 
association  for  this  obj eel  was  permitted  by  Roman  law.  At, 
all  events,  the  agape  as  we  know  it  after  the  second  century 
had  become  distinctly  a  funeral  feast,  and  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  the  pagan  practice  had  some  influence  in  determining  its 
form  as  well  as  insuring  iis  continuance.  Its  similarity  to 
the  Roman  silicernium  was,  indeed,  very  great ;  and  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  that  pagan  writers  drew  attention  to  the  fact. 
The  differences,  however,  were  also  well  marked;  and  the 
Christian  apologists  were  prompt  to  point  them  out.  S. 
Augustine,  in  reply  to  Faustus  the  Maniehean,  says,  "Our 
agapes  feed  the  poor"  —  a  testimony  which  proves  that  the 
feast  had  not  lost  its  original  character  as  a  charity.  P>y  the 
tilth  century  the  refrigerium,  which  in  the  agape  was  provided 
for  the  poor,  was  accounted  a  suffrage  for  the  spiritual  refrige- 
riii  tn  of  the  departed  in  whose  memory  the  feast  was  given.  The 
agapes  which  were  celebrated  on  the  feasts  of  the  martyrs 
were  provided  at  the  expense  of  the  Church  or  by  the  offerings 
of  the  devout.  In  the  case  of  private  persons  an  annual  agape 
was  often  established  by  a  bequest  of  the  deceased  or  celebrated 
at  the  expense  of  his  family. 

We  have  seen  that  the  custom  was  continued  to  the  time  of 
S.  Augustine  ;  but  it  suffered  serious  change  in  form,  and  was 
attended,  by  grave  abuses  which  finally  led  to  its  abolition. 
Julian  the  Apostate  was  obliged  to  acknowledge  the  moral  dif- 
ference between  the  pagan  and  the  Christian  custom.  But  S. 
Augustine,  referring  to  the  agapes  which  were  daily  celebrated 
in  the  atrium  of  S.  Peter's,  says  that  there  were  daily  examples 
of  drunkenness ;  and  in  another  place  he  exclaims,  "  Now 
drunkards  persecute  the  martyrs  with  cups,  whom  then  the 
mad  persecuted  with  stones."  Nevertheless  the  feasting  of  the 
poor  was  continued  at  S.  Peter's,  in  a  hall  specially  appropri- 
ated to  the  purpose,  till  the  destruction  of  the  old  basilica. 
Probably  by  the  end  of  the  fifth  century  the  agape  had  become 
dissociated  from  the  cemeteries,  and  again  associated  in  a  cer- 
tain way  with  the  Eucharist  at  the  martyrs'  festivals  in  the 
basilicas.  With  this  change  it  had  quite  lost  its  early  form. 
In  Africa,  in  the  time  of  S.  Augustine,  it  was  the  custom  upon 
the  festivals  to  deposit  at  the  graves  of  the  martyrs,  or  by  their 


LEGAL    TENURE    OF   THE   CEMETERIES  53 

altars  in  the  basilicas,  gifts  of  bread,  wine,  and  other  food  to  be 
distributed  to  l.lm  poor.  His  mother,  S.  Monica,  at  the  firsl 
festival  which  occurred  after  her  arrival  at  Milan,  went  early  in 
the  morning  to  the  church  with  her  basket  filled  with  the  pious 
gifts  she  had  been  accustomed  to  offer  in  Africa,  not  knowing 
that  S.  Ambrose  had  abolished  the  custom.  The  ostiarius  for- 
bade her  entrance  into  the  church ;  "  and  henceforth,"  as  S. 
Augustine  says,  "  she  carried  to  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  in- 
stead of  a  basket  of  fruit,  a  heart  full  of  pure  desires."  The 
example  of  S.  Ambrose  was  soon  followed  everywhere ;  but  a 
vestige  of  the  agape  still  remains  in  the  offerings  in  kind  or 
in  money  which  is  made  for  the  poor  at  the  celebration  of  the 
Eucharist. 

LEGAL    TENURE    OF    THE    CEMETERIES 

The  funeral  agapes  are  closely  connected  with  another  ques- 
tion of  even  deeper  interest  and  of  broader  significance  for  the 
understanding  of  the  legal  position  and  organization  of  the 
Church  during  the  centuries  of  persecution.  That  is,  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  nature  of  the  tenure  of  church  property,  which  de 
Rossi  would  solve  —  so  far  at  least  as  the  cemeteries  are  con- 
cerned —  by  the  hypothesis  that  the  Church  was  organized,  and 
by  law  recognized,  as  a  burial  society,  and  as  such  enjoyed  legal 
protection  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  as  a  religious  society 
prohibited. 

Before  examining  this  theory  it  is  well  to  take  account  of  the 
private  tenure  of  church  property,  which  probably  continued  till 
the  end  of  the  second  century.  The  Roman  law,  which  sane- . 
tioned  the  slaughter  of  the  Christian  martyrs,  rigorously  pro- 
tected their  tombs.  No  formality  was  required,  nor  any  priestly 
consecration,  to  put  a  tomb  under  the  protection  of  the  law. 
The  legal  maxim  was:  Religiosum  locum  unusquisque  sua  vol 'it tt- 
tate  facit,  dum  mortuum  infert  in  locum  suum  ("  Each  of  his 
own  will  constitutes  a  religious  spot  when  he  introduces  in  his 
property  a  dead  body  ").  The  few  square  feet  of  ground  which 
covered  the  grave  were  by  this  mere  act  set  apart  from  the  rest 
of  the  property  as  a  locus  religiosus,  which  might  not  be  in  any 
wise  alienated  from  the  use  to  which  it  was  dedicated.  It  was 
not  thereby  constituted  strictly  a  locus  sacer,  which  demanded  a 
special  consecration,  but  it  was  nevertheless  placed  under  the 


:.l  CEMETEBIES 

tutelage  of  the  Pontifex  Maximus,  whose  permission  was  re- 
quired for  any  change  in  its  disposition.  The  punishmenl 
attached  to  violation  of  a  sepulchre  was  deportation  to  an 
island,  or  forced  labor  in  the  stale  mines,  according  to  the  social 
rankof  the  offender.  The  same  protection  which  was  accorded 
to  i  he  grave  itself  was  extended  tothe  monument  which  adorned 
it.  to  the  surrounding  ground  which  was  allotted  to  it,  to  the 
buildings  devoted  to  the  funeral  feasts,  and  to  any  other  prop- 
erty annexed  to  it  for  its  maintenance.  It  was  common  to 
indicate  upon  the  cippi  which  marked  the  boundaries,  or  in  the 
inscription  of  the  monument  itself,  the  extent  of  the  ground 
which  was  devoted  to  the  tomb.  The  formula  was :  in  fronte 
pedes  XV  in  agro  pedes  XII — "along  the  road  15  feet,  in 
depth  (in  the  field)  12  feet."  The  destination  of  the  monu- 
ment was  also  expressly  stated  in  the  inscription.  For  ex- 
ample, sibi  et  suis  —  "for  self  and  family";  or,  "for  himself 
and  his  freedmen";  or,  for  those  who  stood  in  any  given 
relation  to  the  proprietor.  The  tomb  was  commonly  a  family 
monument;  and,  with  the  restrictions  which  have  been  noted, 
it  constituted  a  family  property  for  the  burial  of  succeeding 
generations. 

It  is  easy  to  realize  how  a  wealthy  Christian,  who  gave  his 
house  within  the  city  for  the  worship  of  the  Church,  might 
receive  the  bodies  of  the  early  martyrs  in  his  private  tomb, 
and  without  relinquishing  his  private  tenure  of  the  property 
might  allow  it  to  be  recognized  as  the  burial-place  for  all  the 
brethren  who  worshipped  in  his  house.  Such  was  in  fact  the 
tenure  by  which  church  property  was  held  till  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century.  The  great  extent  of  the  cemeteries 
was  not  inconsistent  with  private  ownership.  The  area  attached 
to  pagan  tombs  was  sometimes  considerable,  and  the  Christian 
practice  of  subterranean  excavation  reduced  the  necessity  for 
great  superficial  extension.  It  is  calculated  that  the  primitive 
nucleus  of  S.  Callistus  —  that  is  the  part  attached  to  the  crypt 
of  Lucina  —  lay  under  an  area  which  measured  only  100  feet  in 
fronte  and  180  in  agro  ;  and  yet  in  this  region  there  can  still 
be  counted  800  sepulchres. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  some  of  the  cemeteries  may  have  been 
held  by  private  title  throughout  the  whole  period  of  persecution. 
This  supposition  has  been  relied  upon  to  explain  the  fact  that 


PRIVATE    TENURE  65 

about  the  end  of  the  third  century  the  cemetery  of  Callistus 
suddenly  ceased  to  be  used  as  the  burial-place  of  the  popes, 
who,  beginning  with  Marcellinus,  were  buried  instead  in  the 
.cemetery  of  Priscilla.  Marcellinus  suffered  martyrdom  in  the 
year  304,  the  year  following  the  edict  of  Diocletian  which  con- 
fiscated the  corporate  property  of  the  Church.  The  papal 
cemetery  of  Callistus  must  have  been  the  first  to  be  struck  by 
this  act,  and  burial  in  it  must  have  been  rendered  at  once  im- 
possible. On  the  other  hand,  one  may  readily  conceive  that 
the  cemetery  of  Priscilla  may  have  continued  to  be  held  in 


Fig.  13.  —  Fresco  in  a  crypt  in  Cyrene. 

private  title  by  the  family  of  Pudens,  or  by  the  Acilii  Glabi- 
riones,  and  was  exempted  from  confiscation.  There,  at  all 
events,  Marcellinus  was  buried,  and  other  tombs  dating  from 
the  same  period  of  confiscation  have  been  discovered. 

The  primitive  titles  by  which  all  the  cemeteries  were  known 
throughout  the  age  of  persecution  were  the  personal  or  family 
names  of  the  original  possessors ;  it  was  not  till  after  the 
Peace  of  the  Church  that  they  were  designated  by  the  names 
of  the  principal  martyrs  who  were  buried  in  them.  A  topo- 
graphical designation  was  often  employed  for  the  catacombs, 
and  served  to  confuse  still  further  their  nomenclature.     For 


68  CEMETERIES 

example,  the  Ccemeterium  Pontiani  (the  name  of  the  founder) 
took  the  name  of  SS.  A  Linn  and  Sennen,  or  (the  topographical 
designai  ion  >  ad  ursum  pileatum  ;  I  he  primitive  i  ii  le  of  t  he  cem- 
etery in  which  S.  IVter  found  burial  is  unknown,  and  the  place 
is  best  known  even  to-day  by  the  topographical  name  in 
Vaticano, 

As  long  as  the  churches  and  cemeteries  were  held  in  private 
title  their  legal  status  was  perfectly  obvious.  Nor  is  there  any 
problem  raised  by  the  undoubted  fact  that  after  the  Peace  of 
the  Church  all  ecclesiastical  goods  were  recognized  as  the  cor- 
porate property  of  the  Church  and  were  held  as  such  by  the 
bishop.  But  already  during  the  age  of  persecution  church 
property  had  generally  ceased  to  be  held  in  private  hands,  as 
is  proved  by  the  edicts  of  confiscation  and  by  other  evidence 
which  has  been  mentioned  above.  And  it  seems  as  if  the  ten- 
ure of  church  property  was  then  precisely  the  same  as  we 
know  it  after  the  fourth  century  ;  for  when  after  confiscation  it 
was  returned  to  the  Church,  the  imperial  edict  designated  the 
bishops  as  the  holders  of  it.  The  same  state  of  affairs  is 
proved  not  only  for  Rome  and  Italy,  but  for  the  provinces ; 
and  it  commenced  with  the  beginning  of  the  third  century.  It 
must  be  admitted  that,  under  whatever  fiction  the  property 
was  held,  it  was  actually  recognized  by  the  State  as  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Church.  This  does  indeed  pose  a  very  serious 
problem :  How  was  it  possible  that  the  State  recognized  the 
Christian  community  as  a  legal  entity  and  protected  it  in  the 
possession  of  its  property,  while  the  Church,  as  a  religious  in- 
stitution, was  prohibited,  and  even  the  individual  profession  of 
Christianity  was  punished  by  death  ?  Whatever  may  be  the 
explanation,  the  fact  itself  cannot  but  put  in  a  new  light  the 
situation  of  the  Church  under  the  Empire ;  and  if  the  catacombs 
furnish  monumental  proof  of  numerous  martyrdoms  and  of 
persecutions  of  which  there  is  no  other  evidence,  they  also 
serve  to  prove  that  the  Church  must  have  enjoyed  long  periods 
of  prosperity  and  of  immunity  from  attack,  during  which, 
though  it  remained  in  law  an  illicit  religion,  it  was  shielded 
by  the  executive. 

The  hypothesis  which  de  Rossi  has  proposed  to  account  for 
the  legal  status  of  the  cemeteries  has  been  so  readily  and  so 
widely  accepted  that  it  requires  a  presentation  at  some  length. 


THE   BUBIAL   SOCIETIES 


67 


In  brief,  however,  it  is  simply  this:  that  in  order  fco  obtain 
legal  protection  in  the  possession  of  its  property  the  Church 
had  itself  recognized  in  law  as  a  burial  society.  The  position 
of  pagan  burial  societies  under  the  Empire  was  remarkable, 
indeed  unique,  and  much  1i;is  been  learned  about  them  from 
inscriptions.  The  burial  societies,  as  first  organized  toward 
the  end  of  the  Republic,  had   a  purely   practical   aim.     The 


Fig.  14.  — Decoration  in  stucco,  ceiling  of  a  crypt  near  the  via  Latina. 


poorer  classes,  who  were  unable  to  provide  a  family  tomb, 
were  obliged  to  resort  to  cooperation  to  insure  a  place  for  their 
ashes  and  to  meet  the  expense  of  the  funeral.  The  members 
of  these  societies  paid  monthly  dues  and  were  assured  a  niche 
in  the  common  columbarium.  Special  donations  established 
funeral  feasts  upon  the  anniversaries  of  the  death  of  the  bene- 
factors. These  organizations  had  sometimes  a  broader  scope, 
being  practically  mutual  benefit  societies;    and,  as  they  met 


58  CEMETERIES 

regularly  Por  the  transaction  of  business  and  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  funeral  leasts,  they  must-  always  have  established 
an  important  social  bond  between  the  members.  The  member- 
ship was  composed  of  the  slaves  of  a  particular  estate,  of  the 
artisans  of  a  particular  trade,  or  of  people  who  were  associated 
in  some  equally  natural  way.  Such  societies  were  frequently 
founded  by  the  donation  of  a  piece  of  ground,  or  of  a  tomb,  on 
the  part  of  some  wealthy  benefactor.  Before  the  second  cen- 
tury the  burial  societies  had  seldom  any  expressly  religious 
associations :  they  were  designated  by  the  name  of  the  patron, 
or  by  a  description  of  their  membership.  But  about  the  time 
of  Hadrian  they  began  to  assume  a  religious  character,  being 
sometimes  designated  by  the  names  of  the  particular  divinities 
to  whose  cult  they  were  devoted. 

The  burial  societies  must  be  regarded  as  an  instance  of  a 
general  tendency  which  was  showed  in  the  organization  of 
trade  guilds  and  associations  of  various  sorts  among  the  poorer 
classes.  Such  guilds  became  common  in  the  latter  years  of  the 
Republic,  and  they  greatly  increased  under  the  Empire  and 
with  the  growth  of  tyranny.  The  meetings  of  all  such  guilds 
were  at  first  liberally  allowed ;  but  from  the  reign  of  Trajan 
they  were  jealously  regarded  as  possible  centres  of  political 
sedition,  and  the  right  of  meeting  (jus  coeundi)  was  denied  to 
all  save  the  funeral  societies.  Until  the  end  of  the  second 
century  even  this  single  exception  extended  only  to  the 
burial  societies  of  the  Capital ;  Septimius  Severus  permitted 
them  throughout  the  Empire.  The  members  (sodales)  were 
allowed  not  only  to  organize  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  a 
common  burial-place;  but  —  as  a  necessary  means  to  this  end 
—  to  meet  monthly  within  the  city  for  the  conduct  of  their  busi- 
ness and  the  collection  of  the  monthly  dues,  which  were  depos- 
ited in  a  common  chest  (area).  The  societies  were  governed 
by  their  own  statutes  (lex  collegii)  under  the  public  law.  An 
interesting  set  of  statutes  of  this  sort  was  discovered  in  1816 
at  Lanuvium  (Civita  Lavinia).  It  is  the  constitution  of  a  col- 
legium of  slaves  established  in  the  year  136.  After  naming  the 
date  of  foundation  and  the  place  of  reunion,  it  fixes  the  monthly 
dues  (which  like  the  offerings  of  the  Christians  were  not  only 
in  money  but  in  kind),  establishes  fines  and  penalties  (among 
them  the  refusal  of  burial  to  such  as  had  committed  suicide, 


THE  BURIAL  SOCIETIES  60 

and  to  such  also  as  had  not  paid  their  dues),  it  gives  even  the 
menuoi  the  funeral  feasts  and  a  lis!,  of  the  dates  upon  which 
they  were  regularly  to  be  held.  This  ordo  co&narum  is  given 
in  the  following  Conn  :  — 

17//  idus  Marlias  Ccesenni  .  .  ■  palris. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  # 

V  lad.  Dec  natali  Antinoi. 

******* 

XIX  Kal  Ian  natali  Ccesenni  Rufini patroni  munii-i/n. 

If,  as  de  Rossi  remarks,  we  substitute  for  these  names  a  Callis- 
tus,  an  Agnes,  a  Caecilia,  we  have  the  primitive  list  of  the 
minor  Christian  festivals. 

One  cannot  fail  to  observe  how  close  in  many  respects  was 
the  parallel  between  some  of  the  practices  of  the  Church  and 
those  of  the  burial  societies.  De  Rossi  has  drawn  attention 
to  the  coincidence  between  the  language  of  Tertullian  and  the 
rescript  of  Septimius  Severus,  "  But  it  is  permitted  to  the 
poor  to  pay  monthly  dues,  provided  they  meet  but  once  a 
month ";  —  so  far  the  Digest  (XLVII.  22,  No.  1).  In  much 
the  same  terms  Tertullian  (xipol.  39)  says  of  the  Christians, 
"  Each  one  contributes  his  due  upon  a  certain  day  of  the 
month,  or  as  much  as  he  will,  if  he  is  willing  to  give  anything, 
and  if  he  is  able." 

The  hypothesis  of  de  Rossi  seems  to  be  confirmed  by  a 
Christian  inscription  which  was  found  in  Algiers  near  the  site 
of  the  ancient  Csesarea  Mauritanea  :  — 

AREAM  AT  (ad)  SEPVLCRA  CVLTOR  VERBI  CONTVLIT 
ET  CELLAM  STRVXTT  SVIS  CVNCTIS  SVMPTIBVS 
ECLESIiE  SANCT.E  HANC  RELIQVIT  MEMORIAM 
SALVETE  FRATRES  PVRO  CORDE  ET  SIMPLICI 
EVELPIVS  VOS  SATOS  SANCTO  SPIRITV 

ECLESIA    FRATRVM    HVNC    RESTITVIT    TITVLVM    •   M   •    A   •  I   •  SEV- 
ERIANI    C   •  V   •  EX    IXG  •  ASTERI. 

According  to  this,  a  Christian,  Evelpius,  "  a  worshipper  of  the 
Word,"  had  founded  a  sepulchral  area,  with  a  chapel  (cella) 


60 


CEMETERIES 


constructed  within  its  limits,  which  he  leaves  to  the  "holy 
Church."  The  inscription  having  been  broken,  the  communitj 
restored  it.  Ecclesiafratnim  ("  <  Ihurch  of  t  he  brel  hren  ")  might 
then  have  been  the  name  of  the  buria]  society  which  is  sup- 
posed i"  have  stood  for  the  Church;  or  perhaps  it  was  called 
"Collegium  cultorum   Verbi." 

A-nother  argument  is  found  in  the  so-called  Philocalian 
catalogue,  which  contains,  anion-'  other  things,  the  dates  of  the 

burial  of  the  Roman  popes 
from  254  to  354  —  a  list 
which  seems  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  same  source 
as  the  parallel  catalogue  of 
I  v>- LJ | ;  IwfW^I  i  ^ie  Pre^ects  of  Rome,  which 

■M    **l!  ■  |Twif '  lmM     'i:m*    been    extracted 

under  Liberius  from  the  Ar- 
chives of  the  city.  We  know 
that  the  burial  societies,  in 
order  to  obtain  legal  recogni- 
tion, had  to  present  to  the 
authorities  the  name  of  their 
presiding  officer,  which  in 
the  case  of  the  Christian 
communities  was  of  course 
the  bishop.  It  has  been 
argued,  therefore,  that  the 
Archives  preserved  the  names 
of  the  bishops  of  Rome  as 
the  presidents  of  the  Chris- 
tian burial  society.  It  is  not  claimed  that  the  Church  through- 
out the  Empire  was  represented  as  a  single  society ;  it  is  rather 
supposed  that  the  Christian  community  in  each  city  constituted 
a  particular  society  (or  perhaps  several),  and  gave  the  authori- 
ties no  reason  to  suspect  the  ties  which  bound  them  together. 

For  the  reason  that  this  hypothesis  has  been  so  generally 
accepted,  and  in  particular  because  it  has  been  made  the 
basis  for  the  most  fantastic  attempts  to  derive  the  very  organi- 
zation of  the  Church  from  the  norm  of  the  collegia  tenuiorum, 
it  is  necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  is  still  an 
hypothesis,   and   that,  plausible  as  it  is,  it  is  not   definitely 


ib  of  Priscffla. 


ic,  tunic,  and  v< 
Third  century. 


THE  BURIAL   SOCIETIES  61 

proved  either  by  literary  or  monumental  evidence.  So  far  as 
the  catacombs  are  concerned,  they  have  hardly  any  bearing 
upon  the  subject,  except  to  suggest  the  problem  which  this 
theory  is  intended  to  solve. 

Duchesne  objects  to  this  theory  that  it  is  neither  sufficiently 
proven,  nor  in  itself  altogether  plausible.  He  finds  it  easier  to 
believe  that  the  Church  was  able  through  the  tolerance  of  such 
emperors  as  Commodus  to  possess  its  collective  property  in  its 
own  name.  He  suggests  that  even  if  it  could  be  established 
that  the  registers  of  the  prefecture  had  been  consulted  for 
the  consular  dates  of  the  "depositions"  of  the  popes,  it 
would  follow  only  that  the  prefecture  recognized  the  Christian 
community  and  its  chiefs,  and  not  that  it  recognized  them 
under  the  fiction  of  a  burial  society.  "  In  order  that  the 
churches  could  have  been  made  to  accept  a  fiction  such  as  that 
which  would  have  transformed  them  officially  into  burial  so- 
cieties, it  would  have  been  necessary  :  1st,  that  they  had  been 
willing,  which  is  neither  proved  nor  easily  reconcilable  with 
the  horror  of  Tertullian1  and  of  S.  Cyprian2  for  this  sort  of 
fraternity  ;  2d,  that  the  police  had  consented  to  ignore  the  fact 
that  the  matter  really  concerned  the  Christian  community. 
This  appears  difficult  enough.  A  burial  society  was  an  asso- 
ciation of  a  rather  small  number  of  persons ;  the  church  of  a 
great  city,  as  of  Rome,  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Carthage,  must 
have  numbered  in  the  third  century  thirty,  forty,  or  fifty 
thousand  members.  How  can  one  imagine  S.  Fabian,  S.  Cyp- 
rian, S.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  going  to  be  registered  at 
the  prefecture  as  head  of  a  college  of  '  cultores  Verbi'  com- 
posed of  fifty  thousand  persons,  associated  with  a  view  to 
procuring  decent  burial  ?  It  seems  more  natural  to  believe 
that  if  after  the  death  of  Marcus  Aurelius  the  Christian 
communities  enjoyed  long  intervals  of  peace,  if  they  succeeded 
in  possessing  real  property  of  a  conspicuous  nature  and  con- 
siderable value,  it  is  because  they  were  tolerated  and  even 
recognized,  without  any  legal  fiction,  as  churches,  as  religious 
societies.  Of  legal  fictions,  of  burial  societies,  of  mysterious 
titles,  the  documents  give  neither  testimony  nor  suspicion."  3 

1  Apol.  39.  2  Ep.  de  Basilide  et  Martiali. 

8  Les  origines  chretiennes,  c.  XXIII.,  §  IV. 


(•,.' 


CEMETERIES 


[NSCRIPTIONS 

To  give  :m  adequate  account,  of  early  Christian  epigraphy 

within  the  limits  of  a  lialf  dozen  pages  is,  of  course,  an  impossible 
task  :  it  amounts  simply  to  dismissing  the  subject  in  the  fewest 
possible  words.  It  is  proposed  to  give  here  an  account  —  only 
in  the  most  genera]  terms,  and  with  but  few  examples  —  of  the 
distinctive  characteristics  of  Christian  sepulchral  inscriptions, 
of  the  several  classes  into  which  they  may  be  divided,  and  of 
the  sort  of  information  one  may  expect  to  derive  from  their 
study.  For  further  and  more  detailed  information  one  may 
conveniently  consult  Marucchrs  JJlements  d' Archiologie  chreti- 
enne,  the  first  volume  of  which  devotes  a  disproportionately 
long  section  to  this  subject.  The  more  fundamental  sources 
are  given  in  the  Bibliography. 


L1VIA  N1CARVS 
LIVIAEPP.IMl'1'IVAE 
5  0R.OIU        FECIT 
Q-V-AN-XXIIIIM-Vim 


Fig.  16.  —  Sarcophagus  of  Livia  Primitira,  found  in  the  Vatican  cemetery,  now  in  the 
Louvre.     Second  century. 


The  first  distinction  which  must  be  marked  is  that  between 
the  original  titles  and  epitaphs,  and  the  later  metrical  inscrip- 
tions with  which  Damasus  and  his  imitators  adorned  the 
tombs  of  the  martyrs  and  signalized  their  deeds.  Of  the  first 
class  it  is  convenient  to  distinguish  between  such  as  present 
only  the  simplest  data,  a  name,  a  date,  or  some  merely  conven- 
tional formula;  and  such  as,  with  richer  content  and  more 
characteristic  form,  throw  light  upon  dogma,  or  upon  the  con- 
ditions of  the  civil  and  religious  life.  The  earliest  Christian 
epitaphs  are  very  brief,  and  one  can  seldom  derive  from  them 
important  inferences  about  ecclesiastical  dogma  or  custom. 
This  characteristic  brevity  detracts  considerably  from  their 
importance  as  sources  of  information  ;  and  the  student  needs 
to  be  warned  that  early  Christian  epitaphs  are  commonly 
appealed  to  far  too  loosely  in  proof  of  the  prevalence  of  this 


INSCIUI'TIONH 


03 


or  that  doctrine  or  custom,  as  though  it  made  no  substantial 
difference  whether  they  were  proved  for  the  second,  the  third, 
or  the  fourth  century.  We  have  to  rely  upon  the  inscriptions 
of  the  early  period  for  the  proof  of  the  existence  of  certain 
customs;  but  when  it  is  a  question  of  dogma  or  ritual  the  very 
point  at  issue  is  usually  the  ascertainment  of  the  earliest  date 
to  which  they  may  be  ascribed  within  this  period,  and  epitaphs 
which  cannot  be  securely  assigned  even  to  an  approximate  date 
ought  not  to  be  used  except  in  mere  illustration  of  doctrines 
and  practices  which  are  otherwise  attested  for  the  age  in  ques- 
tion. 

Most  of  the  more  elaborate  inscriptions  are  late,  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  all  simple  inscriptions  are  early,  for  brevity 
was  the  rule  throughout  the  history  of  the  catacombs.  It  has 
already  been  mentioned 
that  many  tombs  were 
without  name,  and  were 
distinguished  only  by  the 
familiar  possessions  of 
the  deceased  which  were 
pressed  into  the  fresh 
plaster.  It  was  also  in 
the  fresh  plaster  that  the  friends  sometimes  scratched  the 
date  of  the  "  deposition  "  of  the  body. 

This  custom  of  indicating  the  day  of  the  month  upon  which 
burial  took  place,  and  this  name  for  the  act  of  burial,  —  deposi- 
tio,  depositus  (Ka-rafoo-is),  contracted,  D.,  D.P.,  etc.  —  are  peculiar 
to  Christian  inscriptions,  and  characterize  all  but  the  very  earli- 
est. The  word  "  deposition  "  expresses  the  hope  which  illumi- 
nated the  Christian  burial ;  it  indicates  the  committal  to  the 
earth  of  a  treasure  which  shall  be  restored.  The  term  of  life 
of  the  defunct  was  indicated  according  to  pagan  custom  :  Vixit 
annis  .  .  .,  mensibus  .  .  .  ,diebus.  .  .  (V  .  A  .  .  .  M  .  .  .  D  .  .  .). 
From  the  third  century  this  datum  was  often  given  with  less  pre- 
cision: Vixit  annis  plus  minus  ...  (Q  .  VIX .  AN  .P.M.  XXX). 
The  name  was  commonly  accompanied  by  these  formulas  only  ; 
or  also  by  the  name  of  the  person  dedicating  the  monument,  by 
some  affectionate  epithet  (filio  dulcissimo),  or  by  some  exclama- 
tion denoting  the  Christian  hope  for  the  departed  —  in  pace 
(lv  dprjvr}),  in  Deo,  in    Cristo.     Such   exclamations   were   the 


Fig.  17.  —  Sarcophagus  from  the  Vatican  cemetery. 


64 


CEMETERIES 


earliesl  adjuncl  to  the  mere  Dame  which  .alone  marks  the  tombs 
of  the  mosl  primitive  period.  They  were  expressed  also  by 
the  symbols  of  the  dove,  the  anchor,  the  fish,  and  later  by  the 

so-called  ( 'onstantiniai ogram. 

The  t  hree  names  W  hich  were  characteristic  of  Iloina.ii  citizen- 
ship ( pro. itniiicii.  gentilitium,  and  cognomen)  had  begun  to  fall 
into  disuse  with  the  end  of  the  first  century,  and  their  pres- 
ence upon  Christian  monuments  denotes  a  very  high  antiquity. 
The  prcenomen  was  generally  dropped,  and  still  more  commonly 
a  single  name  appeals,  sometimes  of  a  strictly  Roman  charac- 
ter, sometimes  of  Eastern,  or  barbarian  derivation,  denoting  a 
Jewish  or  perhaps  a  servile  origin.  Some  of  them  are  evidently 
names  taken  in  baptism,  with  a  Christian  signification  or  asso- 
ciation.    Petrus  occurs  several  times    in   Rome   in    the   second 


J|  DKOiONOstMWlS 
«  HLOCATO'BM/AtKENTI 

im  PAC: 


Fig.  18.  —  Tombstone,  with  grarlito  representing  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  in  the  Lateran 

Museum. 


century,  Petronilla  is  associated  by  tradition  with  the  first, 
Paulus  also  occurs,  and  later  Maria.  Such  names  as  Martyrius, 
Adeoclatus,  Eoangelius,  are  evidently  of  Christian  formation ; 
so  also  are  a  considerable  number  of  names  expressing  humility, 

—  as  Projecticius,  Fimus,  Stercorius,  —  which  one  encounters 
already  by  the  end  of  the  third  century.  The  names  Fides, 
S})es,  Agape,  Eirene,  etc.,  are  very  ancient ;  and  the  name  Lucina 

—  which  probably  denotes  the  illumination  received  in  baptism 

—  is  associated  with  the  burial-place  of  S.  Paul  and  with  the 
earliest  nucleus  of  the  cemetery  of  Callistus. 

How  much  historical  significance  may  lie  in  the  simplest 
inscriptions  —  even  in  a  mere  name  —  one  can  judge  fairly 
only  by  consulting  de  Rossi's  own  minute  studies,  which,  for 
all  their  subtlety,  approve  themselves  anything  but  rash.     It  is 


INSCRIPTIONS  65 

especially  for  the  early  period,  in  the  case  of  purely  Roman 
names,  and  by  reason  of  the  rigorous  system  of  persona]  and 
family  nomenclature  which  the  Romans  used,  that  such  argu- 
ments can  be  securely  drawn.  The  very  title  of  the  cemetery 
of  Domitilla  is  sufficient  to  connect  it  with  the  imperial  Flavian 
family.  Domitilla  (feminine  diminutive)  was  a  common  cog- 
nomen in  this  family;  it  corresponded  to  the  masculine  Domi- 
tianus.  It  is  known  that  in  the  first  century  a  vast  estate 
(predi  amarantiana  —  now  corrupted  to  Tor  Marancia), 
in  which  this  cemetery  is  situated,  belonged  to  a  branch  of 
this  family.  The  cemetery  itself  brings  the  proof  that  it  was, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  to  the  Christian  branch  of  the  family  it 
belonged.  A  pagan  stele  was  found  there  which  records  that 
the  family  tomb  which  it  marked  was  obtained  EX  HSTDUL- 
GENTIA  FLAVLE  DOMITILLA.  Another  reads:  FLA- 
VLE  DOMITILLge  divi  VESPASIANI  NEPTIS  EIVS 
BENEFICIO  HOC  SEPVLCHRVm  MEIS  LIBERTIS  LIB- 
ERTABVS  POsui.  Among  the  Christian  epitaphs  of  the 
cemetery  there  are  a  number  of  names  of  the  Flavian  gens ; 
for  example:  — 

3>A.    CABEINOC    KAI   TITIANH    AAEA^OI. 

That  is,  "Flavius  Sabinus  and  Titiana,  brother  and  sister." 
All  of  this  renders  plausible  the  form  in  which  de  Rossi 
completes  a  mere  fragment  which  appears  to  have  belonged 
to  the  inscription  placed  over  the  entrance  of  the  cemetery :  — 

Sepulc  R  V  M 
Flavi  0  R  V  M 

At  all  events,  there  is  no  doubt  that  as  early  as  the  first  cen- 
tury this  was  the  burial-place  of  the  Christian  members  of  the 
imperial  Flavian  house.  These  mere  names  suffice  to  connect 
this  cemetery  with  the  illustrious  converts  of  the  gens  Flo  via 
whom  the  Church  could  already  count  within  the  Apostolic 
age.  It  has  been  suspected,  from  the  language  in  which 
Tacitus  describes  him  (mitem  virion  dbhorrentem  a  sanguine 
et  ccedibus),  that  Titus  Flavius  Sabinus,  elder  brother  of  the 
Emperor  T.  Flavius  Vespasianus,  was  the  first  of  the  family 
to  be  converted  to  Christianity.  He  was  for  the  first  time 
Praetor  in  64  under  Nero,  and  it  is  certain  that  as  a  duty  of 

F 


00  CEMETERIES 

his  office  he  must  have  examined  into  the  causes  of  the  Chris- 
tians who  were  executed  for  their  religion.  During  the  thirty 
years  of  absolute  peace  and  tranquillity  which  the  Church 
enjoyed  after  the  death  of  Nero  there  is  no  mention  of  Chris- 
tians of  this  name.  The  relation  of  the  family  to  Christianity 
becomes  first  publicly  known  by  reason  of  the  persecution  of 
Domitian,  and  it  is  attested  by  pagan  as  well  as  by  Christian 
historians.  The  first  to  fall  a  victim  was  the  Consul  Titus 
Flavius  Clemens,  son  of  the  above-mentioned  T.  Flavins  Sabi- 
nus  and  first  cousin  of  the  Emperor.  While  Clemens  was 
beheaded,  his  wife,  Flavia  Domitilla,  niece  of  Domitian,  and 
another  Flavia  Domitilla,  who  was  a  niece  of  Clemens,  were 
exiled  to  the  islands  of  Pandataria  and  Ponza.  In  expla- 
nation of  these  harsh  measures,  it  must  be  supposed  that 
Domitian  considered  the  profession  of  this  strange  religion  by 
members  of  his  own  family  a  proof  of  political  disaffection. 
It  suggests  food  for  the  imagination  to  reflect  that  but  for  this 
outbreak  of  suspicion  a  Christian  emperor  might  have  occupied 
the  throne  of  the  Csesars  before  the  end  of  the  first  century ; 
for  it  was  the  two  sons  of  Clemens  and  Domitilla  whom  Domi- 
tian had  adopted  as  his  successors,  changing  their  names  to 
Vespasianus  and  Domitianus. 

The  memory  of  the  Flavian  converts  and  martyrs  has  been 
preserved  in  the  Church  and  hardly  needed  the  confirmation 
of  the  monuments.  But  another  illustrious  convert  and  martyr 
of  the  first  century  is  known  as  such  only  through  inscriptions 
discovered  in  the  cemetery  of  Priscilla.  Manius  Acilius  Gla- 
brio,  Consul  in  91  with  Trajan  and  head  of  one  of  the  noblest 
Roman  families,  was  also  put  to  death  by  Domitian.  He  was 
made  to  fight  with  a  bear  or  a  lion,  and,  proving  victorious  in 
this  contest,  was  beheaded.  Though  no  memory  was  preserved 
in  the  Church  that  he  died  a  Christian,  yet  the  terms  in  which 
Suetonius  records  the  charge  which  was  brought  against  him 
and  other  members  of  consular  and  senatorial  rank  who  suffered 
with  him  (raolitores  rerum  novarum)  has  led  several  historians  to 
suspect  that  they  were  martyrs  for  the  Faith.  That  the  Acilii 
Glabriones  were  Christians  was  put  beyond  a  doubt  in  1889 
when,  in  the  central  and  primitive  region  of  the  cemetery  of 
Priscilla,  there  wras  discovered  an  extensive  and  richly  orna- 
mented hypogeum  which  contained  fifteen  inscriptions  in  Latin 


INSCRIPTIONS  07 

mid  ( J  reek  of  members  of  this  family.     Originallj  bhere  .  i 

have  been  more,  for  the  epitaph  of  1 1i <•  Consul  himself  is  miss- 
ing; the  very  richness  of  the  marble  decoration  specially  marked 
this  crypt  for  destruction,  and  only  fragments  of  the  sarcophagi 
and  their  inscriptions  remain.     One  of  them  reads:  — 

aKIAIOC    POY*INOC 
£HCHC   EN  ©Eft 

Acilius  Rufinus  live  in  God  —  a  sure  sign  of  the  Christian 
character  of  the  sepulchre.     Another  reads  :  — 

M   ACILIUS   V  •  • 

C  •  V  • 
et  PKISCILLA    C  •  . 

Manius  Acilius  vir  clarissimus  (et)  Priscilla  clarissima  (femina). 
The  title  clarissimus  vir  leaves  no  doubt  that  this  personage 
of  senatorial  rank  belonged  to  the  family  of  the  consul 
who  was  put  to  death  under  Domitian.  The  name  Pris- 
cilla suggests  a  relationship  with  the  family  of  the  senator 
Puclens  from  whose  wife  Priscilla  the  cemetery  took  its  name. 
In  this  cemetery  were  likewise  buried  that  Aquila  and  Pris- 
cilla (Prisca)  who  were  companions  of  S.  Paul,  and  the  site  of 
whose  house  upon  the  Aventine  is  marked  by  the  church  of 
S.  Prisca  (contraction  for  Priscilla).  Their  common  use  of  the 
name  Priscilla,  together  with  the  fact  that  both  families  were 
buried  in  the  same  cemetery,  suggests  some  close  tie  between 
the  family  of  the  tent-maker  upon  the  Aventine  and  the  sena- 
torial family  of  the  Esquiline. 

There  is  something  to  be  learned  from  the  very  brevity 
of  the  early  inscriptions ;  there  is  argument  to  be  drawn  from 
their  silence.  During  the  first  four  centuries  of  the  Church  no 
single  mention  is  made  of  a  slave,  and  but  rarely  of  a  freedman, 
among  the  thousands  of  inscriptions  of  the  catacombs  — 
justifying  the  Christian  boast  that  master  and  slave  recognized 
their  equality  in  the  Church.  In  a  later  time  the  inscriptions 
occasionally  record  the  manumission  of  slaves  in  suffrage  of  the 
departed. 

In  contrast  to  the  pagan  custom,  even  the  noblest  of  the 
Christians  recounted  none  of  the  honors  of  their  offices  and 


68 


CEMETERIES 


rank,  except  thai  the  initials  V.  C.  (vir  clarissimus),  C.  F. 
(clarissima  femind),  werenol  uncommonly  inscribed  to  indicate 
membership  in  the  senatorial  order.  The  Christian  attitude 
was  that  of  looking  forward  beyond  the  tomb,  rather  than 
back  over  the  course  of  earthly  honor  and  success;  recessit 
a  sceculo  became  a  familiar  formula  in  the  fourth  century.  In 
the  third  and  fourth  centuries  the  profession  of  the  defunct 
was  often  mentioned  in  the  inscription  or  indicated  by  pic- 
turing the  tools  of  his  trade.  We  have  in  general  in  the 
catacombs  a  thorough  vindication  of  Tertullian's  boast1  that 


->' 


the  Christians  were  to  be  found  in  every  rank  and  in  every 
profession. 

Nothing  could  be  more  simple  than  the  epitaphs  of  the 
Roman  bishops  in  the  papal  crypt  at  S.  Callistus.  The  earliest 
which  have  been  preserved  in  this  crypt  are  those  of  Anteros 
(236)  and  Fabianus  (250) :  — 

EIII  (Anteros,  bishop). 

M  P  (Fabianus,  bishop,  martyr). 


ANTEPOC 
<£ABIANOC   •  EIII 


The  inscriptions  of  this  crypt  prove  that  Greek  was  still  the 
official  language  of  the  Roman  Church. 

The  next  pope,  Cornelius,  was  buried  in  a  distant  region  of 
the  same  cemetery,  the  very  region,  in  fact  which  seems  in 
origin   to   have   been   the  property  of   the  Cornelii   and  the 

i  Apol.  37. 


TNSCBIPTIONS  69 

Ciecilii.  This  prol;:ibly  explains  the  fftct  that  the  epitaph  of 
this  pope  is  not  in  the  official  Language  of  the  Church,  but  in 
Latin  :  — 

CORNELIVS-  MARTYR 
EP 

The  word  "martyr  "here  is  original ;  on  the  epitaph  of  Fabianus, 

however,  it  was  a  subsequent  addition. 

Most  of  the  very  early  inscriptions  in  the  Roman  catacombs 
were  in  Greek,  and  the  same  language  persisted  here  and  there 
to  a  comparatively  late  period.  Greek  inscriptions  were  some- 
times written  in  Latin  characters,  and  Latin  sometimes  in 
Greek.  The  very  general  traits  of  Christian  epigraphy  which 
can  here  be  noticed  serve  as  well  for  the  Greek  as  for  the  Latin, 
for  the  East  as  for  the  West.  It  seems  not  unlikely,  however, 
that  early  inscriptions  in  the  Orient  may  have  been  more 
elaborate  than  those  of  the  same  period  which  we  know  in 
Rome.  The  earliest  inscriptions  of  the  East  have  not  been  pre- 
served ;  but  the  epitaph  of  Abercius  (Fig.  20),  which  is  trans- 
lated in  another  place  (p.  235),  belongs  to  the  middle  of  the 
second  century,  and  is  one  of  the  most  elaborate  and  interest- 
ing of  all  Christian  inscriptions.  It  is  inscribed  upon  a  stele 
of  the  common  pagan  form.  The  use  of  the  stele  or  cippus  was 
not  altogether  rare  in  the  Church,  although  the  vast  majority 
of  inscriptions  are  upon  plaques  of  stone.  Despite  their  pagan 
significance,  the  initials  D  •  M  •  (Bis  manibus)  are  sometimes 
found  upon  Christian  tombs  ;  partly  because  the  plaques  were 
thus  inscribed  as  they  were  bought  at  the  shops,  and  partly, 
perhaps,  because  they  were  so  much  the  ordinary  sign  of  a 
tomb  that  their  more  specific  significance  was  forgot.  B.  M. 
(bonce  memoriae)  was  sometimes  substituted  in  a  later  age. 

In  point  of  orthography  de  Rossi  distinguishes  two  classes 
of  the  primitive  Roman  inscriptions :  those  painted  in  red  (in 
Pompeian  fashion),  which  are  characteristic  of  S.  Priscilla ; 
and  those  cut  in  the  stone,  which  are  elsewhere  almost  univer- 
sal. The  orthography  is  for  the  most  part  careless,  and  after 
the  second  century  there  begin  to  appear  frequent  mistakes 
which  reflect  the  popular  pronunciation  and  the  popular  idiom. 

Even  in  the  concise  terms  of  the  early  epitaphs  there  some- 
times lies  a  clear  testimony  to  early  dogma.     In  the  third  cen- 


70 


CEMETERIES 


tu  r\-  a  greater  fulness  and  variety  appears.  There  are  a  number 
of  prayers,  particularly  in  Greek,  which  suggest  a  liturgical 
origin.  Metrical  inscriptions  are  rare  until  the  fourth  cen- 
tury; the  earliest  examples  of  them  are  commonly  brief,  and 
show  a  dependence  upon,  if  not  an  actual  quotation  from, 
the  Classical  poets.  Bui  there  are  also  inscriptions  in  quasi 
versus,  a  variety  of  verse  invented  by  Com- 
modian,  a  Christian  poet  of  the  third 
century.  It  is  not  of  much  interest 
to  record  that  the  inscriptions, 
early  and  late,  testify  to  belief  in 
God,  in  Christ  as  God,  in  the 
j||fc  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  the  Resur- 
■ection  ;  it  would  be  a  matter 
of  startling  consequence  if 
they  did  not.  Of  more  im- 
portance are  the  references 
to  baptism,  particularly 
^  the  baptism  of  infants  ; 
""I  and  to  the  widows  and 
|p  virgins  of  the  Church. 
But  of  all  the  dog- 
matic notices  which  are 
fK  furnished  by  the  inscrip- 
r  tions,  none  have  so  sym- 
pathetic an  interest,  and 
none  are  likely  to  be  ac- 
counted of  so  great  importance, 
as  those  which  illustrate  the 
custom  of  prayer  to  and  for  the 
departed.  We  may  distinguish 
three  classes :  those  which  contain  a  prayer  for  the  peace  of 
the  departed ;  those  which  petition  the  prayers  of  the  departed 
in  behalf  of  those  who  remain  below  —  these  two  being  fre- 
quently combined ;  and  those  which  call  upon  all  who  read  the 
inscription  to  pray  for  the  person  whom  it  commemorates. 
Such  forms  are  found  with  comparative  frequency  after  the 
middle  of  the  second  century. 

To  another  class  belong  the  appeals  for  the  intercession  of 
the  martyrs.     It  was  hardly  before  the  fourth  century  that  the 


n  i.\  itj  j'ixOm 


Fig.  20.  —  Fragment  of  sepulchral  stele 
of  Abercius,  found  in  Hieropolis,  now 
in  the  Vatican.     Second  century. 


INSCRIPTIONS  71 

martyrs  were  regarded  as  advocates  before  God  for  the  souls  of 
the  departed.  For  this  period,  however,  the  popularity  of  tin- 
view  is  proved,  not  only  by  inscriptions,  but  by  some  of  the 
I miiitings  of  the  catacombs  which  represent  the  soul  introduced 
into  heaven  by  the  saints,  and  the  same  theme  appears  Inter  in 
the  mosaics  of  the  basilicas,  tt  is  in  this  cult  of  the  martyrs  we 
find  the  roots  of  the  later  doctrine  of  the  saints;  in  the  offi- 
cial recognition  of  martyrdom,  and  in  the  special  efficacy  which 
was  attributed  to  the  martyr's  intercession,  we  have  the  essen- 
tial factors  of  the  mediaeval  doctrine.  It  was  this  conception 
of  the   martyrs  as    advocates  in  the  Judgment  which   made 


Fig.  21.  — Loculus  of  a  martyr,  closed  with  tiles,  catacomb  of  Domitilla. 

burial  near  them  seem  so  desirable.      The  following  inscrip- 
tions are  of  the  fourth  century :  — 

CVIQ.VE   PRO   VITAE   SVAE   TESTIMONIO 

SANCTI  MARTYRES   APVD   DEVM  ET   CRISTVM 

ERVNT   ADVOCATI 

(Cemetery  of  Cyriaca.) 

DOMINA   BASILLA   COM 

MANDAMVS   TIBI   CRES 

CENTINVS   ET  MICINA 

FILIA   NOSTRA   CRESCEN  .  .  . 

QVE   VIXIT   MENS   X   .   ET   DES.  . 

(Cemetery  of  Basilla.) 

Domina  (dominus)  was  the  title  given  to  martyrs.  The  latter 
inscription  reads  :  "  0  lady  Basilla,  we  commit  to  thee  Crescen- 
tinus,  and  our  tiny  daughter  Crescen(tia)  who  lived  10  months 
and  .  .  .  days." 


72  CEMETERIES 

Aiiol  her,  from   .\(|iiilci;i, 

MARTYRES  •  SANCTI 

IN   •  MENTE  ■   HAVITE 

MARIA 

reads,  "Holy  martyrs,  remember  Mary." 

But  to  return  to  the  earlier  forms  which  regard  all  the  faith- 
ful dt 'parted  without  distinction:  1  have  spoken  of  them  as  a 
sympathetic  subject  of  study,  because  they  are  so  human,  so 
naive,  and  spring  so  promptly  from  the  heart.  The  prayer  for 
a  place  of  refreshment,  of  light  and  peace,  of  rest  in  God,  in 
behalf  of  the  departed  soul,  was  impossible  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  pagan,  simply  because  the  other  world  was  not 
conceived  in  such  terms.  To  the  Christian,  on  the  other  hand, 
these  were  the  ideas  which  were  naturally  associated  with  the 
death  of  the  believer;  and  if  there  was  nothing  in  the  Chris- 
tian teaching  which  positively  required  such  prayers,  there 
could  at  least  be  no  more  solid  objection  brought  against  them 
than  the  claim  that  they  were  superfluous.  What  more  natu- 
ral, however,  than  that  the  Christian  hope  for  the  dead  should 
at  the  very  tomb  itself  be  expressed  as  a  prayer  ?  What  more 
natural  than  that  such  prayers  should  appear  upon  the  tomb- 
stones before  ever  they  were  formulated  in  the  liturgies,  and 
before  the  doctrine  of  a  purgatory  of  pain  had  turned  their 
glad  confidence  into  a  tearful  and  doubtful  supplication  ?  The 
simple  exclamations  we  have  here  to  record  bear  evidence  of 
being  the  fruit,  not  of  any  clear  doctrinal  conception,  but  of  a 
popular  and  natural  fantasy. 

.  •  vIBAS 

IN   PACE   ET   PETE 

PRO   NOBIS 

"  Live  in  peace !  and  pray  for  us,"  reads  an  ancient  inscrip- 
tion in  S.  Domitilla.     The  following,  of  the  fourth  century, 
gives  the  theological  ground  which  justifies  such  a  prayer  to  • 
the  dead,    "Pray  for  us  because  we    know  that  thou  art  in 
Christ":  — 


INSCRIPTIONS  73 

GENTIANVS    FIDELIS    IX    PACE   QV1    VTX 

[T   ANNIS    XXI    MENSS    VIII    DIES 

XVI    ET   IN   ORATIONES  TVIS 

ROGES   PRO    NOBIS  QVIA   SCIMUS  TE    IN   CHRISTUM* 

(Lai.  in  us.  VIII.  15.) 

That  prayer  for  the  dead  was  not  associated  with  harrowing 
doubt  about  their  fate  we  see,  for  example,  in  an  early  Greet 
inscription  in  S.  Domitilla,  which  at  the  same  time  demands 
the  prayer  of  the  departed  in  behalf  of  the  surviving  friends  :  — 

ZHCAIC  •  EN  -  KI2  •  KAI  .  EPftTA  •  YIIEP  •  IIMON. 

"  Mayest  thou  live  in  the  Lord !   and  pray  for  us."     This  is 
simply  the  realization  of  the  communion  of  saints. 
Of  the  third  or  fourth  century  is  the  following:  — 

ANATOLIVS   FILIO  BENEMERENTI  FECIT 

QVI  VIXIT   ANNIS   VII  MENSIS   VII   DIE 

BVS  XX  ISPIRITVS   TVVS  BENE   REQVIES 

CAT   IN  DEO   PETAS   PRO   SORORE   TVA 

(Lat.  mus.  VIII.  19.) 

"  Thy  spirit  rest  in  God :  pray  for  thy  sister." 

The  demand  for  prayer  in  behalf  of  one's  own  soul  seems  to 
manifest  a  too  anxious  solicitude  about  one's  fate ;  but  it  is 
found  as  early  as  the  end  of  the  second  century  in  the  epitaph 
of  the  Phrygian  bishop,  Abercius,  written  by  himself  (page  234). 
The  following  metrical  inscription  from  S.  Priscilla  belongs 
probably  to  the  fourth  century :  — 

EVCHARIS  •  EST  ■  MATER  •  PIVS  -  ET  •  PATER  •  EST  •  •  • 
VOS  •  PRECOR  •  O   FRATRES  •  ORARE  •  HVC  •  QVANDO  • 

VENItis 

ET  •  PRECIBVS  •  TOTIS  •  PATREM  •  NATVMQVE  •  ROGATIS 

SIT  •  VESTRAE  •  MENTIS  •  AGAPES  ■  CARAE  •  MEMINISSE 

VT  •  DEVS  •  OMNIPOTENS  •  AGAPEN  .  IN  •  SAECVLA  . 

SERVET 
1  The  name  of  Christ  is  represented  by  the  monogram. 


71 


CEMETERIES 


There  is  unfortunately  but  little  space  lei't  to  treat  of  the 
inscriptions  with  which  Daraasus  adorned  the  tombs  of  the 
martyrs.  They  deserve  more  attention  than  can  here  be  given 
them.  They  arc  interesting,  not  only  as  a  type  of  Christian 
poetry  which  was  admired  by  contemporaries  ami  frequently 
copied  in  succeeding  centuries,  and  because  of  the  beautiful 
and  characteristic  letters  in  which  they  were  cut ;   hut    for   the 

fact  that  they  reveal  several  pages 
A  C\  HFVC  of  the  history  of  the  martyrs  which 

but  for  them  would  be  absolutely 
unknown,  that  they  testify  clearly 
to  the  character  of  the  cult  which 
was  rendered  to  the  martyrs  in 
the  fourth  century,  and  that  they 
make  it  possible  to  identify  in 
each  cemetery  the  position  of  the 
most  venerated  tombs.  There  was 
no  cemetery  at  Rome  which  had 
not  at  least  one  such'  inscription, 
and  still  others  were  placed  in  the 
cemeterial  basilicas  and  chapels. 
Most  of  the  original  inscriptions 
have  totally  perished,  many  of 
them  at  the  hands  of  the  Goths ; 
but  the  text  of  about  forty  of  them 
has  been  preserved  through  the 
,  a    .  . .,,        copies  made  by  the  pilgrims.     In 

Fig.   --'.  —Martyrdom  of  b.  Achilleus,  L  J        .       r     & 

relief  upon  one  of  the  columns  which   consequence  of  this  lucky  preser- 

snpportedtheciboriuminthebasmca    yation  fragment    of     the 

of  S.  Petromlla.     Fourth  century.  ,  » 

original  marble  suffices  for  the 
restoration  of  the  whole  inscription  and  serves  often  to  fix  its 
original  location. 

The  accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  23)  shows  a  marble 
which  8.  Damasus  placed  at  the  end  of  the  crypt  of  the  popes 
(Fig.  10)  ;  it  is  now  restored  to  its  original  place  and  is  almost 
complete,  although  recomposed  from  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  minute  fragments  into  which  it  was  broken.  I  give  here 
the  translation,  which  must  suffice  for  an  example  of  Damasus's 
poems :  "  Here,  if  you  inquire,  lies  crowded  together  a  throng 
of  the  righteous,  the  venerable  tombs  hold  the  bodies  of  the 


THE   POEMS   OF  DAMA8U8 


75 


saints,  their  lofty  spirits  the  palace  of  heaven  took  to  itself. 
Here  the  companions  of  Sixtns  who  bore  trophies  from  the 
enemy;  lime  a  number  of  the  leaders  who  ministered  at  the 
altars  of  Christ ;  here  is  placed  the  priest  who  lived  in  long 
peace;  here  the  holy  confessors  whom  Greece  sent;  here 
young  men  and  hoys,  old  men  and  their  pure  descendants, 
who  chose  to  keep  their  virgin  modesty.  Here,  I  confess,  I 
Damasus  wished  to  deposit  my  body,  but  I  feared  to  disturb 
the  holy  ashes  of  the  righteous."  It  is  not  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  a  "throng"  of  martyrs  were  often  buried  in  a 
single  tomb,  particularly  such  as  suffered  together  in  the  same 


\    HlCCONQESTpi 


A 


jssiTS/r^apioJlym'  i 

:N\-T]SEllAM3'ASEjfvi(SA  \ 


Vsuonga: 

ESSOFJESS^t 

SPVjrfuCyS 


TpTfQVSE 

.  s  E  N  VEMlfcft>DAS' 
yVrSl  B4  RE  £>Xp*ELI 
fefQ  VI^CH OST^oJaEA^ 


Fig.  28. —  An  inscription  by  Pope  Damasus  in  the   papal  crypt,  catacomb   of  Callistus. 

Fourth  century. 


persecution.  In  the  case  of  such  as  were  burned  or  thrown 
to  the  beasts,  often  only  very  small  portions  of  their  bodies 
could  be  recovered.  Sixtus  II.  and  his  companions  in  martyr- 
dom are  here  mentioned,  although  Damasus  set  up  in  this 
same  crypt  a  special  inscription  in  his  honor.  Those  "who 
ministered  at  the  altars  of  Christ"  are  probably  unnamed 
deacons  and  presbyters  ;  and  the  "  sacerdos  "  of  the  next  verse 
may  refer  to  the  Roman  bishops  who  were  buried  here  (using 
the  singular  for  the  class),  though  de  Rossi  understands  Mil- 
tiades,  who  was  the  first  pope  to  enjoy  the  peace  given  by 
Constantine.  The  "  confessors "  from  Greece  are  unknown, 
but   they   may  have   been   Hippolytus   and   his   companions. 


76 


CEMETERIES 


The  last  lines  seem  intended  as  a  rebuke  fco  those  who  dis- 
turbed the  bodies  of  the  martyrs  in  their  zeal  to  be  buried  near 
them. 

Damasus  was  in  fad  buried  in  a  Little  basilica  connected 
with  ili<'  cemetery  of  Domitilla,  in  which  be  prepared  also  the 
tombs  of  his  mother  and  sister.  For  himself  and  for  them  he 
composed  inscriptions.  This  chapel  has  not  yet  been  dis- 
covered, but  a  small  fragment  of  an  inscription  found  near 
the  church  of  SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano  was  recognized  by  de 
Rossi  as  belonging  to  Damasus's  inscription  to  his  sister,  the 


Fig.  24. 


■Decoration  of  the  crypt  of  S.  .Tanuarius,  catacomb  of  Pnetextatus. 
century. 


Third 


text  of  which  was  known.  This  piece  was  again  lost,  and  has 
been  rediscovered  in  the  course  of  the  excavation  of  the  Forum. 
It  awakens  surprise  that  it  is  not  inscribed  in  the  customary 
Damasian  letters ;  but  this  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the 
sister  died  before  Damasus  became  pope  and  before  he  had 
adopted  the  type  of  letter  which  is  associated  with  his  name. 

De  Rossi  has  traced  the  author  of  these  beautiful  letters, 
which  though  frequently  imitated  in  a  later  age  were  never 
precisely  copied.  On  the  marble  which  contains  the  inscrip- 
tion to  S.  Eusebius,  discovered  in  S.  Callistus,  there  is  at  each 
end  a  line  of  smaller  letters  which  read  from  top  to  bottom  : 
Damasis  Pappce  cultor  atque  amatot  Furius  Dionysius  Filoccdus 
scribsit  —  "  Furius  Dionysius  Filocalus  the  reverer  and  lover  of 


AFTER    THE   FOURTH   CENTURY  77 

Tope  Damasus  wrote  it."  This  fantous  personage  was  the 
secretary  of  Damasus.  In  this  inscription  one  is  struck  not 
only  by  the  false  spelling,  but  by  the  character  of  the  letters, 
which  in  fact  are  only  a  distant  imitation  of  the  Damasian. 
This  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  original  inscription  had 
been  broken,  and  was  restored  .again  about  the  end  of  the  sixth 
century,  perhaps  by  Pope  Vigilius ;  it  was  then  cat  on  the  back 
of  an  inscription  of  Caracalla. 

The  interesting  inscription  which  has  been  translated  above 
is  enough  to  show  that  Damasus  was  not  a  great  poet;  his 
verses  are  not  always  regular,  and  he  shows  a  lack  of  invention 
in  his  frequent  repetition  of  favorite  words  and  phrases,  many 
of  them  taken  from  Virgil.  But  his  style  was  accounted  ele- 
gant by  Jerome  (elegans  in  versibus  scribendis),  and  he  seems  to 
have  been  a  conscientious  historian.  The  historical  researches 
which  he  must  have  made  about  the  martyrs  were  doubtless 
facilitated  by  the  fact  that  he  was  archivist  of  the  Roman 
church  before  he  was  made  pope. 

In  the  composition  of  metrical  inscriptions  Damasus  had 
imitators  even  among  the  popes.  Many  such  inscriptions 
were  in  dedication  of  basilicas ;  some  of  them  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  notice  in  connection  with  the  mosaics.  Suffice  it 
to  say  here  that  with  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  poverty  and 
ignorance  had  become  so  general  that  hardly  any  inscriptions 
were  produced,  except  the  rude  epitaphs  of  popes  or  of  other 
rulers. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    CATACOMBS    AFTER    THE    FOURTH    CENTURY 

In  the  foregoing  description  of  the  Roman  catacombs,  and  in 
the  treatment  of  the  problems  which  they  raise,  enough  of  their 
history  has  been  introduced  to  give  a  fair  conception  of  the 
earliest  period,  which  illustrates  specially  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian brotherhood  in  the  extension-  of  the  privilege  of  the  family 
sepulchre  to  all  who  were  of  the  same  family  in  the  faith. 
Enough  has  been  said  of  the  second  period  to  reveal  the  extent 
and  character  of  Church  organization  in  the  third  century; 
enough  also  of  the  third  period  to  illustrate  the  growing  cult 
of  the  martyrs.  It  only  remains  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the 
last  period  of  their  history,  which,  though  a  long  one,  has  little 


78  CEMETEBIES 

to  register  bu1   the   various  stages  of  their  abandonment  till 
their  very  sites  became  unknown. 

De  Rossi  bas  proved  that  the  custom  of  burying  in  the  sur- 
face cemeteries  above  the  catacombs  bad  made  such  progress 
by  the  last  quarter  of  the  fourth  century  that  only  a  third  of 
the  burials  were  subterranean.  The  desire  for  burial  near  the 
martyrs  found  a  natural  obstacle  in  the  limits  of  the  space 
winch  could  be  utilized.  A  Roman  epitaph  of  the  year  381 
speaks  of  a  Christian  who  for  her  great  merit  obtained  a  sepul- 
chre  in  the  abode  of  the  saints,  which  many  desired  but  few 
obtained:  .  .  .  ome  pro  tarda  MERITA  ACCEPIT  sepulchrum 
Inira  LIMINA  SANTORUM  quod  mxilti  cupiuN  ET  RARI 
ACCII'IYX.  From  the  year  400  to  409  there  are  almost  no 
inscriptions  proving  subterranean  burial ;  and  with  the  capture 
of  the  city  by  Alaric  in  410  burial  in  the  catacombs  ceased 
altogether.  This  date  is  memorable  as  well  for  ecclesiastical 
as  for  political  history.  "  In  one  single  city  the  whole  world 
perished,"  exclaimed  S.  Jerome  when  the  news  of  the  fall  of 
Rome  reached  him  in  far-off  Palestine.  As  the  beginning 
of  the  barbarian  inroads  which  laid  low  the  whole  civilization 
of  the  West,  it  has  a  special  importance  in  the  study  of  Chris- 
tian art ;  in  the  history  of  the  catacombs  it  marks  the  most 
definite  crisis.  This  did  not,  however,  mark  the  abandonment 
of  the  cemeteries  above  the  catacombs,  which  must  already 
have  reached  a  considerable  size ;  it  was  probably  not  till  near 
the  end  of  the  sixth  century  that  the  law  of  the  Twelve  Tables 
forbidding  burial  within  the  walls  ceased  to  be  generally 
regarded.  By  this  time  the  population  of  Rome  had  so  much 
diminished  that  there  remained  no  practical  objection  to  intra- 
mural cemeteries.  Even  to-day  a  considerable  part  of  the  area 
within  the  Aurelian  walls  is  occupied  only  by  ruins  or  by  vine- 
yards ;  in  the  sixth  century  the  greater  part  of  the  city  must 
have  been  quite  deserted,  or  at  least  left  to  the  farmer.  One 
of  the  earliest  of  the  cemeteries  in  the  city  was  established  on 
the  Esquiline  near  the  church  of  S.  Bibiana ;  another  near 
S.  Cosimato  in  Trastevere.  Soon  each  of  the  parish  churches 
became  the  centre  of  a  parochial  burying-ground. 

But  to  return  to  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century.  The 
disuse  of  the  catacombs  for  burial  by  no  means  signified 
their   abandonment.      The    pious    veneration  of  the   martyrs' 


AFTER    THE    FOURTH   CEXTUllY  79 

tombs  is  witnessed  by  frescos  as  late  as  the  seventh  century. 
Lamps  burned  perpetually  before  the  tombs  of  the  most  famous 
saints,  and  pillars  surmounted  by  a  broad  bowl  of  pottery  or 
glass  for  the  floating  wicks  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  catacombs 
and  serve  to  designate  the  crypts  which  were  once  the  resort 
of  pilgrims.  The  descriptions  which  Jerome1  and  Prudentius2 
give  of  visits  to  the  catacombs  in  the  fourth  century  picture 
them  as  they  remained  for  three  centuries  more.  Notwith- 
standing the  successive  incursions  of  barbarians  from  the  fifth 
to  the  seventh  century,  the  popes  did  their  utmost  to  preserve 
"  the  crown  of  martyrs  "  which  encircled  Rome.  Pope  Vigilus 
(537-555)  was  especially  active  in  restoring  the  inscriptions  of 
Damasus  and  in  repairing  other  ravages  which  had  been 
wrought  by  the  Goths.  Of  John  III.  (561-574),  the  Liber 
Pont iji cah's  records,  amavit  et  restauravit  ccemeteria  sanctorum 
mart iim m.  From  the  same  source  we  learn  that  this  pope 
established  out  of  the  Lateran  revenues  a  weekly  gift  of  oil  for 
every  cemetery,  and  laid  again  upon  each  of  the  urban  titles 
the  obligation  to  send  a  priest  every  Lord's  Day  to  the  cata- 
combs for  the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist  —  a  custom  which 
was  continued  to  the  end  of  the  seventh  century.3  The  seventh 
century  was  the  period  of  the  great  pilgrimages  from  the  North 
to  which  we  owe  the  Itineraries.  Pilgrimages  had  been  com- 
mon since  the  fourth  century,  but  they  were  of  a  private  char- 
acter ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  eighth  century  that  the  cult  of 
relics  led  to  the  violation  of  tombs  and  the  desecration  of  the 
bodies  of  the  saints.  Any  mention  which  is  made  of  relics 
before  that  time  refers  to  a  more  innocent  custom,  chiefly  the 
custom  of  carrying  away  some  of  the  oil  from  the  lamps  which 
burned  before  the  tomb  of  a  saint,  though  in  general  any  object 
—  a  handkerchief  for  instance  —  which  was  brought  into  con- 
tact with  the  tomb  acquired  the  properties  of  a  relic,  and  such 
relics  were  often  carried  to  a  great  distance  for  the  consecration 
of  a  new  church. 

But  the  relics  most  usually  carried  away  were  little  vials 
(ampullae)  containing  some  of  the  oil  from  the  lamp  which 
burned  before  the  tomb  of  a  saint.  The  traffic  in  the  oil  am- 
puUce  was  by  no  means  confined  to  Rome ;   it  was  a  custom 

i  In  Ezech.  12 :  40.  3  Lib.  Pont,  in  Sergio,  I.  1. 

2  Peresteph.  XI. 


80  CEMETEBIES 

almost  universal.  The  a/mputtce  were  made  of  glass,  clay,  or 
metal,  ornamented  with  Christian  subjects  in  relief  (see  p.  355, 
Fig.  54).  The  ampulla  which  were  earned  from  the  tomb 
of  s.  Mennas  in  Egypl  wen'  spread  by  pilgrims  all  over  the 
world.  But  the  most  interesting  collection  is  that  which  was 
made  in  the  time  of  Gregory  the  Great  (590-604)  by  the 
••  Alilmt  '*  John,  who  was  sent  to  Rome  by  the  Lombard  Queen 
Theodelinda  to  ask  relics  for  her  cathedral  at  Monza.  John 
executed  his  mission  with  care;  upon  a  parchment  attached 
to  each  vial  he  wrote  the  name  of  the  saint  from  before  whose 
tomb  the  oil  was  taken,  and  made,  besides,  a  list  on  parchment 
of  the  wdiole  collection.  Originally  there  were  more  than 
seventy  ampullae  in  this  collection;  many  of  them  are  still 
preserved  in  the  cathedral;  and  so  likewise  is  the  original 
draft  of  the  list,  which,  as  it  follows  precisely  the  order  in 
which  the  tombs  were  visited,  proved  to  be  of  the  highest  topo- 
graphical value  in  the  rediscovery  of  the  catacombs. 

The  Roman  Church  was  more  conservative  than  any  of  the 
churches  of  the  East  in  the  respect  which  was  showrn  to  the 
inviolability  of  the  tomb  and  in  the  refusal  to  disturb  the  bodies 
of  the  saints.  It  is  certain  that  up  to  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century  no  bodies  were  transferred  within  the  walls,  for  the 
Itineraries  mention  SS.  John  and  Paul  (see  p.  166)  as  the 
only  martyrs  who  were  to  be  visited  within  the  city  :  "In  urbe 
Homo  beatorum  martyrum  corpora  Joliannis  et  Pauli  tantum 
quiescunt."  Indeed  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  witnessed  a 
notable  development  of  the  buildings  above  the  catacombs. 
It  was  in  this  period  that  the  greater  basilicas  (basil  icce  ma  jo- 
res)  were  erected  over  many  of  the  tombs,  sometimes  incorporat- 
ing the  basilica  ad  corpus  of  Constantinian  foundation.  It 
was  in  connection  with  these  basilicas  that  the  first  transla- 
tions occurred.  Honorius  I.  (625-638)  changed  the  position 
of  several  of  the  tombs  ;  but  only  from  the  crypt  underground 
to  the  basilica  above.  With  this  period  the  Itineraries  begin 
to  speak  of  the  martyrs  deorsum  in  distinction  from  those  in 
basilica  sursum.  The  first  bodies  to  be  transferred  within  the 
city  were  taken  from  the  suburban  towns  :  those  of  SS.  Primus 
and  Felicianus  from  Xomentum  in  648,  and  those  of  Beatrice 
and  Faustinus  from  Porto  in  682. 

Bnt  with  the  eighth  century  the  Carnpagna  became  so  thor- 


AFTER    Till:   FOURTH   CENTURY  81 

oughly  deserted  and  so  unsafe  that  even  tie  basilicas  could  not 

be  preserved,  and  then  began  the  wholesale  translation  of  tin- 
bodies  of  the  saints  to  the  basilicas  of  the  city.  In  757  Paul  I. 
transported  a  great  multitude  of  relics  to  the  church  of  S.  Sil- 
vestro  in  Capite,  which  he  had  just  built  on  the  site  of  his 
family  mansion.  His  successors,  however,  did  nut  imitate 
his  example ;  Hadrian  I.  endeavored  on  the  contrary  to  restore 
the  suburban  cemeteries.  But  Pascal  I.  effected  the  greatest 
translation  of  martyrs'  relics  which  was  ever  made,  removing  in 
817  the  bodies  of  no  less  than  twenty-three  hundred  martyrs  to 
the  church  of  S.  Praxede.  An  inscription  on  marble  in  which 
he  commemorated  this  event  is  still  preserved  in  the  church  ;  it 
gives  the  name  of  each  martyr,  the  cemetery  from  which  each 
group  was  taken,  and  the  part  of  the  church  in  which  they 
were  buried.  Leo  IV.  so  thoroughly  completed  this  work  that, 
by  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  the  catacombs  were  totally 
despoiled  of  the  treasures  which  attracted  pilgrims  and  wor- 
shippers, and  before  long  they  had  fallen  not  only  into  dilapi- 
dation, but  into  oblivion.  Those  of  S.  Lawrence,  S.  Pancras. 
S.  Sebastian,  and  S.  Valentine  were  the  only  ones  which  con- 
tinued longer  to  be  known  and  venerated,  and  that  only  be- 
cause of  the  monasteries  with  which  they  were  connected. 

The  translation  of  the  relics  of  the  saints  was  accompanied 
by  a  ruthless  destruction  of  the  cemeteries  which  surpassed 
anything  they  had  ever  suffered  at  the  hands  of  Lombards, 
Goths,  or  Vandals.  But  after  all,  the  bodies  of  the  saints 
were  saved  by  this  official  translation  from  a  far  worse  viola- 
tion to  which  they  were  already  exposed  at  the  hands  of  pri- 
vate though  licensed  venders  of  relics.  The  names  of  several 
of  these  relic-mongers  have  been  preserved  in  history.  One  of 
the  most  celebrated  was  the  deacon  Deusdona,  who  seems  to 
have  had  charge  of  the  cemetery  of  SS.  Pietro  e  ]Marcellino. 
and  who  took  advantage  of  his  position  to  sell  the  bodies  of 
the  martyrs  in  Germany.  It  was  chiefly  with  the  northern 
countries  that  this  commerce  was  carried  on  ;  those  who  sought 
relics  were  no  longer  satisfied  as  of  old  with  simple  memorials 
carried  from  the  tombs  of  the  saints,  they  must  have  parts, 
however  minute,  of  their  very  bodies. 

With  the  oblivion  into  which  all  but  a  few  of  the  cemeteries 
fell,  there  grew  up  the  most  hopeless  confusion  even  in  the 

G 


CEMETERIES 

reminiscence  of  them.  The  great  cemeteries  of  the  via  Appia 
and  the  via  Ardeatina  were  popularly  identified  with  the  single 

Cemetery  which  remained  accessible,  that  of  S.  Sebastian;   and 

in  the  same  way  those  of  the  via  Tiburtina  were  confused  with 
the  cemetery  of  S.  Lawrence  (S.  Cyriaca).  It  was  this  confu- 
sion more  than  anything  else  which  baffled  all  attempts  at 
their  rediscovery,  till  in  our  own  time  the  puzzle  was  unrav- 
elled by  the  genius  of  Giovanni  Battista  de  Rossi. 


Ill 

CHRISTIAN    ARCHITECTURE 

What  has  been  said  in  the  Introduction  (p.  1  seq.)  about 
the  dependence  of  Christian  upon  Classic  art  is  nowhere  more 
pertinent  than  in  the  case  of  Christian  architecture.  Early 
Christian  architecture  has  often  been  accounted  an  original 
and  significant  development  of  the  nascent  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. The  architectural  innovations  which  have  been  ascribed 
to  the  early  Church  have  been  reckoned  to  its  credit  or  to  its 
discredit,  according  as  one  was  minded  to  see  in  them  a  preg- 
nant seed  of  subsequent  architectural  development,  or  merely 
an  unjustifiable  and  unintelligent  employment  of  the  constitu- 
ent elements  of  Greek  architecture.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
Church  deserves  neither  praise  nor  blame  on  this  score ;  from 
a  technical  point  of  view  it  was  responsible  for  no  architectural 
innovations ;  it  brought  to  the  world  a  new  conception  of  reli- 
gion and  a  new  impulse  toward  morality,  but  it  brought  no 
new  art  teaching  and  no  novel  architecture.  Christian  archi- 
tecture, more  than  any  other  province  of  art,  was  dependent 
for  its  forms  and  for  its  methods  upon  Roman,  Greek,  and 
Oriental  traditions ;  and  it  was  regulated  in  its  development 
by  two  prime  factors  which  were  both  of  them  extraneous  to 
Christianity  :  by  the  tendency,  early  noticeable  in  Rome,  and 
culminating  about  the  end  of  the  third  century,  to  deal  freely 
with  the  constituent  elements  of  Greek  architecture  without 
reference  to  their  original  symbolism ;  and  by  the  poverty  of 
means  which  in  the  decline  of  the  Roman  Empire  made  monu- 
mental architecture  of  the  earlier  Roman  type  (vaulted  halls 
of  great  area)  impossible,  and  prescribed  economic  methods  of 
construction.  We  shall  see  subsequently  to  what  extent  the 
shape,  the  construction,  and  the  decoration  of  the  Christian 
house  of  worship  were  due  to  causes  within  the  Church  itself ; 

83 


84  ARCHITECTURE 

but  such  innovation  as  there  was  hardly  involved  any  technical 
development . 

To  speak  at.  all  of  development  in  relation  to  early  church 
architecture  is  somewhat  paradoxical,  for  —  to  judge  by  exist- 
ing monuments  —  it,  seems  as  if  it,  had  rather  been  created. 
This  observation  is  true,  at  least,  of  the  West  and  more  par- 
ticularly o\  the  basilica.  In  the  East,  or  under  Eastern  influ- 
ence, there  was  one  marked  development,  in  the  construction 
of  the  dome  upon  a  polygonal  —  more  especially  a  quadrangu- 
lar—  base,  a  development  which  culminated  under  the  reign 
of  Justinian  in  the  construction  of  S.  Sophia,  combining  the 
dome  with  the  oblong  quadrangular  plan  of  the  basilica.  In 
the  case  of  the  so-called  Christian  basilica,  there  was  no  incon- 
siderable variety  within  well-defined  limits;  but  only  such 
variety  as  existed  from  the  beginning.  It  seems  as  if  the 
Christian  type  of  basilica  sprang  at  once  and  fully  developed 
into  existence  with  the  Peace  of  the  Church,  as  a  product 
of  Constantine's  zeal  for  church  building.  Such  as  it  then 
was  in  the  earliest  examples  which  are  either  recorded  or  pre- 
served, such  it  remained  without  substantial  change  for  a 
period  much  longer  than  we  are  here  obliged  to  study  in  con- 
nection with  any  of  the  other  arts.  The  same  type  prevailed 
throughout  the  West  from  the  fourth  to  the  eighth  century, 
and  in  some  regions  for  two  centuries  longer.  So  long  a  period 
of  arrested  development  it  would  be  hard,  to  parallel  except  in 
the  history  of  Egypt  or  China.  This  long  permanence  of  the 
basilica  type  proves  the  impotence  of  artistic  invention  which 
prevailed  after  the  decay  of  the  Roman  Empire ;  but  it  proves 
also  the  thorough  fitness  of  this  type  for  the  need  which  it  was 
designed  to  satisfy.  This  observation  is  substantiated  by  the 
fact  that  the  principal  constituents  of  the  basilica  (the  nave 
with  aisles,  the  transept,  the  projecting  sanctuary,  and  the 
clearstory)  have  been  incorporated  in  every  subsequent  type 
of  church  architecture. 

The  fact  is,  however,  that  the  admirable  appropriateness  of 
the  basilica  as  it  first  comes  to  light  in  the  buildings  of  Con- 
stantine,  and  its  substantial  uniformity  throughout  the  whole 
Empire,  suggest  that  it  did  not  come  suddenly  into  existence, 
as  the  invention  of  an  emperor  or  his  architect,  but  that  it 
must  have  had  a  long,  though  unrecorded,  development  during 


INTRODUCTOUY  B6 

the  centuries  of  persecution.  What  that  history  was,  we  can 
only  conjecture,  lacking  the  explicit  testimony  of  early  monu- 
ments ;  the  following  seel  ion,  however,  will  present  the  reasons 
for  believing  that  the  general  plan  of  the  basilica  was  deter- 
mined by  the  custom  of  worship  in  the  private  house.  But, 
whatever  was  the  course  of  development  during  the  age  of 
persecution,  it  is  obvious  that  it  must  have  been  thoroughly 
within  the  traditions  of  Roman  architecture,  for  the  erection 
even  of  church  buildings,  previous  to  the  fourth  century,  must 
have  been  commonly  in  the  hands  of  pagan  artisans.  Techni- 
cally speaking,  the  preparatory  development  of  the  Christian 
basilica  is  not  a  part  of  the  history  of  Christian  architecture, 
but  of  Roman.  We  can,  therefore,  the  more  readily  dispense 
with  a  technical  study  of  the  architectural  elements  which 
enter  into  the  Christian  basilica,  and  all  the  more  because  such 
a  treatment  would  comport  neither  with  the  character  of  this 
handbook,  nor  with  the  space  here  at  command. 

The  fact  that  the  individual  elements  which  enter  into  the 
architectural  complex,  known  as  the  basilica,  were  for  the 
most  part  of  Greek  origin,  only  serves  to  point  the  contrast 
between  Christian  architecture  and  the  Greek,  to  reveal  the 
gap  which  exists  between,  let  us  say,  the  Parthenon  and  S. 
Paul's.  It  is  the  history  of  Roman  architecture  which  bridges 
this  gap.  It  may  be  well  to  sketch  here,  in  brief  terras  and 
with  special  reference  to  the  points  immediately  at  issue,  the 
course  of  this  development.  The  effort  of  Greek  architecture 
was  concentrated  upon  a  single  task,  the  construction  of  the 
temple.  The  scheme  of  the  temple  was  almost  invariable.  In 
base,  it  was  rectangular  and  generally  oblong.  The  Greek 
cult  demanded  a  single  room  of  no  very  considerable  dimen- 
sions for  the  housing  of  the  image.  This  room  was  easily  fur- 
nished through  the  roof  with  light  and  air  ;  it  was  adorned  in 
front,  or  on  all  sides,  by  a  colonnade.  The  worshippers  and  the 
altar  both  had  their  place  without,  and  it  was,  therefore,  on 
the  outside  that  the  architectural  decoration  was  chiefly 
expended.  The  architectural  scheme  which  was  devised  was 
perfectly  suitable  for  the  object  in  view,  and  it  was  suitable  for 
hardly  any  other.  Alexandria  began  the  free  application  of 
Greek  forms  to  public  buildings  of  various  sorts,  and  Rome 
carried  on  the  same  process  with  even  greater  freedom   and 


86  ARCHITECTURE 

with  greater  resultant  variety.  In  the  construction  of  their 
temples,  the  Romans  adhered  more  or  less  strictly  to  the 
principles  of  (ireek  architecture,  which  was  well  known  in 
Italy  before  Roman  times.  They  added,  indeed,  the  round 
temple  with  circular  colonnade,  but  even  this  was  in  keeping 
with  the  (.ireek  principles  of  construction.  For  all  other  uses 
(in  the  construction  of  private  or  imperial  palaces  and  villas, 
<<[  public  halls  of  justice,  and  of  public  places  of  amusement, 
such  as  hat  lis,  theatres,  and  amphitheatres)  the  Romans  dealt 
with  the  Greek  forms  exclusively  in  a  decorative  interest  and 
with  little  or  no  heed  to  the  constructive  symbolism  which  the 
Greeks  always  rigidly  observed.  This  tendency  culminated 
with  the  decline  of  the  Western  Empire  and  particularly  under 
the  reigns  of  Diocletian  and  Constantine ;  and  freedom  in  the 
treatment  of  the  elements  of  Greek  architecture  was  therefore 
the  natural  heritage  of  the  Church  in  the  fourth  century. 

Whatever  regret  the  purist  is  disposed  to  feel  at  this  de- 
fection from  strict  architectural  principle,  and  whatever  blame 
he  is  inclined  to  mete  out  to  the  architects  of  the  late  imperial 
and  the  early  Christian  period  must  be  diminished  by  the 
reflection  that  with  the  Parthenon  Greek  architecture  had 
already  reached  its  perfection,  so  that  further  progress  along 
the  same  lines  was  no  longer  possible ;  that  a  more  complex 
civilization  demanded  an  architectural  solution  for  buildings 
of  a  very  different  character;  and  that  the  combinations  re- 
sorted to  resulted  in  forms  which  were  noble  in  themselves 
and  were  pregnant  with  all  the  developments  which  have 
marked  the  history  of  European  architecture.  Roman  archi- 
tecture developed  chiefly  by  the  elaboration  of  one  principle 
■which  was  unknown  to  the  Greeks,  and  which  had  greater 
architectural  worth,  or  at  least  greater  potentiality  for  variety 
of  application  and  for  colossal  construction,  than  any  principle 
employed  by  them,  namely,  the  principle  of  the  arch  —  includ- 
ing the  vault  and  dome.  The  development  of  these  elements 
was  the  original  contribution  of  Roman  architecture,  and  the 
further  development  of  the  dome  —  especially  its  adaptation 
to  a  polygonal  (most  characteristically  a  quadrilateral)  base 
was  the  sole  contribution  of  the  early  Christian  period. 

The  Roman  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  dome  was  inade- 
quate, because  it  was  not  capable  of  universal  application ;  it 


INTRODUCTORY  87 

demanded  the  unlimited  resoun-es  and  tlie  colossal  enginery  of 
the  undivided  Empire, and  it  depended  in  part,  upon  the  unique 
quality  of  Roman  cement.  The  Roman  vault  and  dome  was 
moulded  upon  a,  temporary  wooden  support  in  a  concrete  of 
cement  and  stone;  the  character  of  the  srolcanic  sand  and 
stone  abundant  about  Koine  (jpozzolana  and  tufa)  made  great 
thickness  of  concrete  consistent  with  lightness;  and  the  whole 
mass  solidified  so  thoroughly  that  it  practically  constituted  a 
monolith  with  almost  no  thrust.  In  the  Byzantine  Empire  the 
preparatory  support  of  timber  was  commonly  unavailable,  and 
the  material  of  construction  was  brick,  or  in  some  regions  hewn 
stone.  Under  the  constraint  of  building  both  vaults  and  domes 
in  free  space  and  without  support,  brick  was  the  material  most 
naturally  employed.  Various  ingenious  devices  of  construction 
were  resorted  to,  but  they  need  not  be  enumerated  here,  inas- 
much as  they  affected  but  little  the  appearance  of  the  finished 
work.  It  is  very  necessary  to  observe,  however,  that  the  whole 
disposition  of  the  building  was  conditioned  by  the  necessity  of 
providing  a  nice  system  of  counterbalances  to  meet  the  thrust  of 
the  dome.  The  vault  had  a  subordinate  importance  in  early 
Christian  architecture,  but  it  became  the  essential  feature  of 
the  Romanesque,  and  was  developed  under  a  new  inspiration 
into  the  Gothic.  The  dome,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  most 
characteristic  feature  of  Byzantine  architecture,  and  the  domed 
basilica  represents  the  crowning  and  unsurpassed  achievement 
of  the  early  Christian  period. 

The  use  of  the  vault  and  dome  had  from  the  beginning  a 
revolutionary  effect  upon  Classic  architecture,  inasmuch  as 
it  tended  necessarily  to  transfer  the  architectural  emphasis 
from  the  outside  of  the  building  to  the  inside.  In  Christian 
architecture  this  tendency  was  carried  to  its  extreme;  the 
exterior  form  of  the  Byzantine  domed  churches  was  arbitrary, 
and  it  commonly  masked  the  interior  disposition  of  the  struc- 
ture. 

The  type  of  building  which  we  are  accustomed  to  asso- 
ciate expressly  with  the  name  "  basilica,"  the  type  which  was 
all  but  universal  in  the  West,  and  predominant  even  in  the 
East,  made  almost  no  use  of  the  vault  and  none  at  all  of  the 
dome  (apart  from  the  half  dome  of  the  apse)  ;  the  feature  which 
has  been  accounted  most  characteristic  of  it  is  to  be  traced  to 


88  ARCHITECTURE 

the  Roman  use  of  the  arch.  It  was  the  employment  of  the 
arch  which  firsl  made  it  Datura!  to  support  a  wall  upon  pillars, 
or  upon  an  arcade  with  niched  recesses.  Characteristic  of 
Roman  architecture  was  the  use  of  the  engaged  column  as  a 

mere  ornamenl  uj the  face  of  a  pillar.     The  engaged  column 

played  do  important  pari  in  early  Christian  architecture3  but  it 
became  of  the  bighesl  importance  in  the  development  of  the 
Gothic  and  entered  then  for  the  first  time  into  dynamic  rela- 
tion with  the  building.  From  the  support  of  the  wall  by  an 
arcade  it  is  a  conceivable  step  —  though  it  must  be  owned  a 
long  one  —  to  its  support  by  a  colonnade.  This  was  a  procedure 
unknown  to  the  Greek,  and  the  step  was  not  taken  by  the 
Roman  till  the  third  century  a.d.  The  colonnade  was  origi- 
nally designed  to  support  only  the  architrave,  or  beam,  upon 
which  rested  the  timbers  of  the  roof.  In  its  earliest  use  for 
the  support  of  a  wall  the  architrave  was  retained  with  arches 
above  it,  either  visible  or  disguised,  to  relieve  its  centre  of 
weight.  In  the  final  stage  of  the  development  the  architrave 
disappeared,  and  the  arches  rested  immediately  upon  the  capi- 
tals, or  upon  broader  blocks  inserted  between.  But  though  the 
architrave  disappeared,  —  so  far  as  its  practical  purpose  was 
concerned,  —  the  entablature  was  retained,  being  curved  to 
follow  the  course  of  the  arch.  This  development  has  been 
accounted  the  chief  innovation  of  early  Christian  architecture, 
but  it  had  already  been  carried  out  on  purely  Roman  monu- 
ments, the  best  known  of  which  is  the  palace  of  Diocletian  at 
Spoleto.  This  was  anything  but  a  solid  method-  of  construc- 
tion, and  it  is  open  to  criticism  from  many  points  of  view;  but 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  we  owe  to  it  some  of  the  most 
graceful  creations  of  early  Christian,  Mahometan,  and  Renas- 
cence architecture. 

Although  the  elements  which  enter  into  early  Christian 
architecture  have  thus  to  be  traced  back  to  Roman  precedents, 
the  triumph  of  Christianity  did  involve  a  revolution  even  in  the 
sphere  of  architecture,  for  it  again  concentrated  architectural 
effort  (as  in  Greece)  upon  the  solution  of  one  chief  problem,  the 
church.  Palaces  and  other  secular  buildings  were  of  small  im- 
portance in  comparison  ;  it  was  upon  church  construction  that 
the  zeal  of  the  secular  powers  as  well  as  the  religious  was  chiefly 
intent.     The  Christian  temple,  unlike  the  Greek,  was  designed 


THE  BASILICA  — Name  B9 

in  house  and  inspire  a  congregation  gathered  within  it,  not  to 
attract  the  gaze  of  worshippers  without  It  was,  if  so  loose  an 
expression  may  be  allowed,  the  Greek  temple  turned  outside  in. 
Although  we  have  to  confess  that  early  church  architecture 
owed  so  little  to  Christian  invention,  its  claim  to  be  called 
Christian  cannot  reasonably  be  denied.  It  has  often  been 
claimed  for  Gothic  architecture  that  it  is  the  only  type  which 
can  properly  be  called  Christian ;  and  this  designation  is  denied 
to  early  church  architecture  on  the  ground  that  it  is  but  a  re- 
flection, though  faint  and  somewhat  confused,  of  Classic  forms. 
Gothic  architecture  was  unquestionably  a  most  original  devel- 
opment of  the  Germanic  spirit  under  the  impulse  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  but,  in  a  strict  use  of  the  term,  no  type  of  architecture 
can  lay  claim  to  the  name  "  Christian  "  ;  Christianity  has  funda- 
mentally nothing  to  do  with  it.  The  invidious  comparison 
ought  not  to  be  raised ;  it  derives  its  force  from  the  mistaken 
notion  that  the  scheme  of  the  Christian  basilica  was  literally 
copied  from  the  Roman  judicial  basilica,  —  if  indeed  the  halls 
of  justice  were  not  bodily  ceded  to  the  Church.  The  compari- 
son loses  much  of  its  point  when  it  is  reflected  that  even 
Gothic  architecture  is  derived  from  the  Roman  vault  construc- 
tion enlivened  by  the  introduction  of  the  Mahometan  pointed 
arch.  The  Christian  basilica  has  been  consecrated  by  centu- 
ries of  Christian  worship ;  it  has  not  been  surpassed,  perhaps 
hardly  equalled,  in  point  of  suitability  to  the  various  require- 
ments of  the  Church's  service ;  and  if  the  origin  of  its  most 
characteristic  features  is  to  be  traced  back  to  the  private  house 
and  to  the  simple  cult  of  the  disciples  who  gathered  there  dur- 
ing the  age  of  persecution,  no  Christian  monument  is  more 
venerable,  none  more  inseparably  associated  with  the  history 
of  the  Church. 

A.     THE   BASILICA 

The  word  "basilica"  denoted  originally  anything  kingly  or 
lordly.  Applied  to  a  building,  it  suggested  especially  grandeur 
of  proportion.  The  civil  basilicas  wdiich  were  built  by  the 
emperors  served  not  only  as  halls  of  justice,  but  for  all  the 
uses  —  political,  commercial,  and  social — for  which  we  employ 
our  assembly  halls,  bourses,  and  market  places.     The  greater 


90  ARCHITECTURE 

patricians  of  Rome  had  their  private  basilicas  for  social 
gatherings  and  business  of  state.  The  t§rm  came  to  have  a 
significance  almost  as  broad  as  our  word  "hall."  Although  many 
of  the  basilicas,  and  particularly  the  mosl  sumptuous  of  them, 
had  an  oblong  rectangular  plan,  and  were  divided  longitudi- 
nally by  rows  of  columns  or  pillars,  this  was  qoI  true  of  all, 
and  even  buildings  which  conformed  to  the  general  type  ex- 
hibited a  radical  divergence  in  the  fact  that  the  middle  might 
be  either  covered  or  uncovered.  The  name,  in  fact,  did  not 
characterize  a  distinct  type  of  building,  nor  did  it  specify  any 
particular  employment  of  it.  The  choice  of  this  name  for  the 
Christian  house  of  worship  was  doubtless  due  to  its  very 
general  and  rather  colorless  use  among  the  Romans;  they 
could  employ  it  in  intercourse  with  the  heathen  without  sus- 
picion, and  yet  for  the  faithful  it  must  have  had  a  deeper  sig- 
nificance, reminding  them  of  the  great  King  (/JacriAeus)  whose 
house  it  was.  The  word  "basilica"  was  radically  synony- 
mous with  dominicum  (house  of  the  Lord),  largely  used  in  the 
"West  for  the  church  building,  and  with  the  corresponding 
Greek  word  kyridkon,  from  which  is  derived  our  word  "  church." 
The  Christian  use  of  the  word  denoted  specifically  a  house  of 
worship,  but  it  did  not  specify,  any  more  than  did  the 
heathen,  a  particular  type  of  building.  Domed  and  round 
churches,  as  well  as  the  oblong  wooden-roofed  buildings  which 
we  are  accustomed  to  associate  exclusively  with  the  name, 
were  anciently  called  basilicas.  For  example,  Sulpicius 
Serverus  relates  that  Helena  erected  "  basilicas  "  on  the  sites 
of  the  Lord's  Passion,  of  his  Resurrection,  and  of  his  Ascen- 
sion ;  and  yet  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  that 
upon  the  Mount  of  Olives  were  round  structures.  That  the 
name  came  to  be  expressly  associated  with  one  type  of  church 
building  was  altogether  natural,  inasmuch  as  this  was  the 
origmal  type,  a  type  which  was  all  but  universal  in  the  West, 
which  remained  predominant  even  in  the  East,  and  became 
absolutely  normal  for  the  church  architecture  of  all  subsequent 
periods.  Some  modern  writers  would  extend  the  name  "  basil- 
ica" even  to  the  Romanesque  churches,  which  are  similar  to  the 
earlier  type  chiefly  in  ground  plan.  It  is  important  to  recog- 
nize the  kinship  of  these  two  styles,  but  for  the  sake  of  clear- 
ness it  is  convenient  to  adhere   to   the   narrower   and   more 


THE  BASILICA— Characteristics  91 

popular  use  of  the  name  "  basilica,"  limiting  it  to  the  early 
Christian    period   and    excluding   all    round    churches   and   all 

domed  and  vaulted   structures. 

Expressed  in  the  briefest  terms,  the  characteristics  of  the 
basilica  are  :  an  oblong  rectangular  ground  plan  divided  longi- 
t  udinally  into  three  or  five  aisles  by  rows  of  columns  (or  pillars) 
which  support  a  wooden  roof,  the  roof  above  the  middle  aisle 
(the  nave)  being  raised  so  much  above  the  side  aisles  that  the 
windows  in  its  supporting  walls  admit  air  and  light  (constitut- 
ing a  clearstory) ;  a  half  circular  presbytery  or  sanctuary  sur- 
mounted by  a  half  dome  (the  apse),  projecting  beyond  the 
rectangular  plan,  facing  the  nave,  with  which  it  corresponds 
in  width,  and  adjoining  it  either  immediately,  or  with  the  in- 
tervention of  a  transverse  aisle  (the  transept)  of  the  same 
height  as  the  nave. 

The  minor  features  of  the  basilica  were  subject  to  consider- 
able variation  according  to  the  taste  of  the  architect,  or 
to  local  exigencies  and  traditions ;  there  were  occasional  ex- 
ceptions even  to  this  general  scheme,  which  will  have  to  be 
noticed  in  due  place;  but  the  fixed  elements  of  the  basilical 
scheme  decidedly  outweigh  the  variable,  and  the  uniformity 
of  the  basilica  throughout  the  whole  Empire  is  one  of  the 
first  and  most  significant  facts  which  confront  us  in  this 
study. 

The  origin  of  this  type  of  building  has  of  late  years  been  the 
subject  of  much  study  and  of  much  controversy ;  as  a  conse- 
quence, it  is  now  possible  to  give,  at  least  in  general  terms, 
an  account  which  will  do  justice  to  the  various  considerations 
which  have  divided  opinion.  The  minds  of  scholars  were 
once  satisfied  with  a  very  easy  solution  which  referred  it  to  the 
invention  of  one  of  the  architects  of  the  Emperor  Constantine. 
This  notion  was  based  at  least  upon  the  just  observation  that 
the  Christian  basilica,  as  it  first  appears  in  the  extensive 
building  operations  of  Constantine,  appears  at  once  in  per- 
fect completeness,  neither  needing  nor  receiving  any  architec- 
tural improvement  in  the  whole  course  of  the  four  centuries 
which  followed.  But  this  fact  is  rather  a  proof  that  the  whole 
of  its  development  lay  before  Constantine,  so  that  when  the 
Church  emerged  from  persecution  into  the  light  of  imperial 
favor  the  tentative  stages  were  already  passed,  the   type   of 


92  ARCHITECTURE 

building  suited  to  its  needs  was  already  worked  out  and  already 
fixed.  Creations  so  stable  do  not  spring  all  at  once  into  exist- 
ence ;  this  view,  which  must  be  emphatically  rejected,  is  only 
less,  absurd  than  the  opinion,  current  only  fifty  years  ago, 
u  hi<h  ascribed  the  Cologne  <  lal  hedral,  and  the  origin  of  Gothic 
architecture  in  general,  to  the  invention  of  some  unknown 
architect  dwelling  at  Cologne. 

Another  view,  which  till  recently  was  the  dominant  one, 
ignores  the  peculiarity  of  the  Christian  building  and  considers 
it  merely  a  copy  of  the  civil  basilica.  The  theory  is  that  with 
the  triumph  of  the  Church  a  great  number  of  the  civil  basilicas 
were  turned  over  to  Christian  use  and  thus  established  a  tradi- 
tional type  of  church  architecture.  In  point  of  fact  there  is 
no  record  of  any  civil  basilica  being  made  over  to  the  Church, 
and  such  an  alienation  of  public  property  is  on  the  face  of  it 
far  from  probable  if  one  reflects  that  they  were  needed  for  the 
purposes  of  civil  and  social  life  after  the  triumph  of  the 
Church  just  as  much  as  they  were  before.  It  need  hardly  be 
said  that  it  is  the  identity  of  name  which  suggests  this  opin- 
ion, and  the  account  which  has  just  been  given  of  the  pagan 
and  Christian  use  of  the  name  "  basilica  "  suffices  to  show  how 
little  force  there  is  in  the  suggestion.  The  theory  is  especially 
weak  in  that  it  ignores  the  diversity  of  the  civil  basilicas,  and 
takes  too  little  account  of  the  most  striking  characteristic  of 
the  Christian  type,  namely,  its  uniformity.  Even  if  all  the 
elements  which  enter'  into  the  Christian  basilica  are  to  be 
found  here  and  there  in  the  civil,  it  still  remains  to  be  ex- 
plained when  and  how  the  Church  selected  and  combined  the 
forms  which  peculiarly  suited  her  use  and  fixed  them  in  an 
unalterable  tradition. 

This  is  not  to  say  that  there  is  no  instruction  to  be  got  from 
the  comparison  of  the  Christian  with  the  pagan  basilica ;  there 
was,  as  a  matter  of  course,  great  similarity  between  buildings 
which  originated  under  the  same  architectural  influences  and 
which  were  alike  designed  as  halls  of  assembly.  Whatever 
account  one  may  give  of  the  origin  of  the  type  of  building 
which  became  fixed  as  the  normal  scheme  of  the  Christian 
house  of  worship,  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  Christians 
ignored  the  solutions  which  Roman  architecture  furnished 
for  problems  which  were  substantially  the  same  as  their  own. 


THE  BASILICA  — Origin  93 

It  is  sufficient  to  acknowledge  thus  in  a  general  way  a  certain 
dependence  of  the  Christian  basilica  upon  the  pagan;  the 
attempt  to  carry  out  a  detailed  comparison  is  at  any  rate  ren- 
dered futile  by  the  defectiveness  of  our  knowledge  of  the 
civil  basilica.  We  know  well  only  the  greater  basilicas  of 
Rome,  and  we  know  even  them  hardly  well  enough  to  deter- 
mine with  confidence  the  method  of  roofing  and  lighting, — 
a  crucial  point  when  it  is  a  question  of  comparison  with  the 
Christian  type.  There  is  at  least  one  feature  of  the  Christian 
basilica  which,  so  far  as  we  know,  is  without  example  in  the 
civil,  that  is,  the  transept.  The  transept,  it  is  true,  was  only 
an  occasional  feature  of  the  basilica,  but  it  has  a  characteristic 
significance  because  it  is  specially  prominent  in  the  earliest 
buildings  and  in  the  greatest;  as,  for  instance,  S.  Peter's,  S. 
Paul's,  and  S.  Maria  Maggiore.  It  has  further  to  be  noted 
that,  even  in  the  case  of  features  which  were  more  or  less 
frequent  in  the  civil  basilica  but  invariable  in  the  Christian 
(as  the  aisles  and  the  apsidal  extension),  we  are  prompted  to 
seek  elsewhere  for  the  conditions  of  development. 

From  whatever  point  we  start,  we  come  back  to  the  necessity 
of  seeking  the  conclusive  stages  of  the  development  of  the 
Christian  basilica  before  the  Peace  of  the  Church.  It  is  the 
traditional  misconception  of  the  condition  of  the  Church  dur- 
ing the  first  three  centuries  which  explains  the  prevalent  indis- 
position to  seek  the  origin  of  the  basilica  within  that  period. 
The  idea  that  throughout  all  of  this  period  Christians  were  a 
prey  to  almost  unceasing  persecutions,  that  they  were  under 
the  necessity  of  concealing  the  existence  of  their  religion,  or 
at  least  their  adherence  to  it,  effectually  excludes  the  notion 
that  they  could  then  have  been  engaged  in  developing  the 
main  lines  of  the  church  building,  or,  indeed,  that  they  could 
have  had  any  church  buildings  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word. 
The  account  which  has  already  been  given  in  connection  with 
the  catacombs  (p.  53  seq.)  of  the  corporate  property  of  the 
Church  during  the  ages  of  persecution,  and  in  particular  of  the 
possession  of  numerous  church  edifices  which  were  publicly 
known  and  officially  recognized  as  such,  puts  another  light 
upon  the  situation  and  not  only  leaves  room  for  the  supposi- 
tion of  such  development  as  is  here  in  question,  but  positively 
demands  it. 


04  ARCHITECTURE 

It  must  ho  confessed  thai  the  fact  of  a  long  preparatory 
history  of  church  architecture  is  far  more  soundly  assured 
than  any  of  the  particular  theories  which  pretend  to  trace  it 
in  detail.  It  is  probable  that  there  are  extant  no  church 
edifices  earlier  than  the  reign  of  Constantine;  the  last  and 
greatest  of  the  persecutions  sufficiently  accounts  for  their  dis- 
appearance. In  the  lack  of  monumental  evidence  we  are 
relegated  to  conjecture.  Of  the  early  subterranean  chapels 
of  the  catacombs  the  most  we  can  say  is  that  they  seem  to 
point  to  a  gradual  development  of  the  church  edifice  along 
lines  which  lead  directly  to  the  form  which  appears  in  the 
fourth  century  ;  but  they  give  us  no  information  about  its  origin. 

There  may  be  mentioned  by  way  of  example  —  and  chiefly 
because  from  a  German  source  it  has  been  popularized  in  Eng- 
lish —  the  theory  which  would  derive  the  basilica  from  the 
school  building  (sckold).  This  theory  has  hardly  anything 
in  its  favor  except  the  suggestion  of  8.  Paul's  example  at 
Ephesus  :  "  disputing  daily  in  the  school  of  one  Tyrannus." ' 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  this  precedent  was  frequently  repeated, 
but  only  as  one  of  a  variety  of  expedients  to  find  a  place  for 
Christian  assembly.  This  theory  breaks  down  utterly  in  view 
of  the  fact  that,  little  as  we  know  of  the  ancient  schola,  it  seems 
to  be  probable  that  it  did  not  conform  to  any  settled  type  and 
in  no  case  very  greatly  resembled  the  basilica.  A  common, 
and  obviously  a  very  convenient,  disposition  for  the  schoolroom 
was  an  oblong  rectangular  plan  with  an  apse  or  exedra  at  the 
end ;  but  it  had  no  division  into  aisles  by  a  colonnade,  and  had 
consequently  no  clearstory  ;  the  basilica,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  never  without  them. 

Certainly  the  most  attractive  theory  of  the  development  of 
the  basilica  which  could  be  advanced  is  that  which  refers  its 
origin  to  the  private  house,  and  the  Apostolic  custom  of  gather- 
ing there  for  worship.  Whereas  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  there 
is  but  once  reference  made  to  the  use  of  a  school  as  a  hall  for 
preaching,  there  is  very  frequent  reference  to  worship  —  in 
particular  to  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper — in  the 
private  house,  and  it  is  evident  that  even  in  the  apostolic  age 
certain  houses  were  distinguished  as  the  habitual  resort  of  the 
Church.2  We  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Lord's 
iActs  xix.  9.  2Rom.  xvi.  3-5. 


THE   BASILICA—  Origin  95 

Supper  was.  during  the  A.postolic  age,  and  indeed  through  the 

first  quarter  of  the  second  •■cut  my,  celebrated  invariably  in  a  pri- 
vate house.  This  was  altogether  natural  in  the  case  of  a  sacra- 
ment which  was  in  its  institution  —  still  more  obviously  in  its 
prototype,  tin-  I 'as:sover — a  household  meal,  and  represented 
the  Church  in  terms  of  the  family. 

That  the  dwelling-house  was  the  regular  place  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Eucharist  throughout  the  first  stadium  of  the  devel- 
opment of  the  Eucharistic  cultus  is  especially  important  in 
this  connection,  because  the  practices  and  ritual  which  centred 
in  the  Eucharist  have  always  been  one  of  the  chief  factors 
regulative  of  church  architecture,  and  nowhere  more  obviously 
than  in  the  case  of  the  basilica.  "We  gather  from  Justin 
Martyr's  account  of  the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist  that,  by 
the  middle  of  the  second  century,  it  had  been  separated  from 
the  agape  and  united  with  the  ordinary  morning  service  of 
exhortation  and  prayer.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
it  ceased  to  be  celebrated  in  the  private  house,  but  Justin's 
account  seems  to  presume  that  a  house  which  was  used  every 
Sunday  for  an  assembly  of  the  Christians  of  the  whole  town, 
and  of  the  outlying  districts,  —  if  not  for  daily  service,  —  must 
have  been  set  apart  exclusively  to  the  use  of  the  Church. 
From  this  time  on  we  meet  with  the  expressions  damns  dei, 
domus  columbce,  or  simply  ecclesia,  used  by  Christian  authors 
in  such  a  way  as  leaves  no  doubt  that  they  refer  to  houses  con- 
secrated exclusively  to  Christian  worship. 

The  extension  to  the  Church  of  the  Eoman  institution  of 
patronage  (see  p.  54  seq.).  which  was  so  highly  important 
for  the  history  of  the  catacombs,  was  presumably  of  no  less 
importance  for  the  history  of  the  house  of  worship.  It  enables 
us  to  realize  the  relation  of  the  wealthy  disciple  to  the  brethren 
whom  he  accommodated  in  his  dwelling,  and  to  understand  the 
status  of  the  property  when  it  was  relinquished  to  the  exclusive 
use  of  the  Church. 

A  congregation  which  was  accustomed  to  worship  in  the 
chief  room  of  a  dwelling-house  would  be  prompted  to  make 
but  few  changes  when  the  property  was  put  exclusively  at 
their  disposition,  and  even  in  the  construction  of  a  new  build- 
ing they  would  be  likely  to  adhere  to  the  familiar  plan.  "We 
may  suppose  that  the  earliest  churches  were  either  actually 


96  ARCHITECTURE 

dwelling-houses  which  had  been  adapted  and  perhaps  enlarged 
for  Christian  worship,  or  new  buildings  which  preserved  botli 
without  and  within  substantially  the  appearance  of  the  private 
house.  The  forms  of  Christian  worship  —  particularly  in  the 
celebration  of  the  Eucharist — were  developed  in  the  private 
house,  and  they  were  not  easily  to  be  divorced  from  the  archi- 
tectural arrangement  to  which  they  had  there  been  accommo- 
dated. It  we  must  recognize  that  the  scheme  of  the  basilica 
was  prescribed  by  the  necessities  of  the  Christian  cnltus,  we 
musl  recognize  that  the  cultns  was  in  turn  determined  in  part 
by  the  arrangement  of  the  private  house. 

It  is  probable  that  the  state  of  affairs  just  now  sketched 
broadly  characterized  the  Church  as  late  as  the  beginning  of 
the  third  century.  80  far  we  may  reasonably  claini  to  be  on 
historic  ground;  conjecture  begins  when  we  seek  to  bridge 
the  gap  between  the  third  and  the  fourth  centuries.  To  state 
the  case  briefly,  at  the  end  of  the  first  century  —  probably  at  the 
end  of  the  second  —  we  leave  the  Christians  worshipping  in  the 
private  house ;  early  in  the  fourth  we  find  them  in  the  fully 
developed  basilica.  There  is  here  a  strong  presumption  that 
the  peculiarities  of  the  latter  house  of  worship  are  to  be  traced 
to  the  former ;  that  is  to  say,  that  the  basilica  is  the  product 
of  a  continuous  development  out  of  the  data  furnished  b}r  the 
Roman  dwelling-house,  under  the  concurrent  influence  of  vari- 
ous types  of  public  architecture.  The  disparity  in  point  of 
size  between  the  great  basilicas  and  the  ordinary  dwelling- 
house  must  not  be  allowed  to  weigh  against  this  presumption, 
for  the  scheme  of  the  basilica  was  singularly  independent  of 
size,  and  remained  the  same  for  very  small  buildings  as  for 
very  great.  It  may  seem  at  first  sight  as  though  the  disparity 
were  equally  marked  in  point  of  architectural  arrangement; 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  numerous  and  very  striking 
analogies  between  the  basilica  and  the  atrium  of  the  Roman 
house.  It  is  important  to  notice  that  the  points  of  comparison 
which  may  be  instituted  do  not,  either  singly  or  altogether, 
constitute  a  proof  of  an  actual  relation  between  the  basilica 
and  the  house;  but  they  do  constitute  a  highly  interesting 
corroboration  of  the  presumption  which  is  here  posited,  and 
it  is  strictly  in  this  light  they  must  be  estimated.  The  pre- 
sumption that  the  basilica  is  in  some  way  or  another  a  devel- 


THE  BASILICA—  Origin  07 

opment  from  the  dwelling-house  is  far  stronger  than  the  proof 
of  any  particular  theory  designed  to  trace  this  development 
along  specific  lines.  This  derivation  of  the  basilica  lias  been 
for  some  time  the  dominant  theory  in  Germany,  and  it  has 
rapidly  come  into  favor  elsewhere.  The  general  proposition 
is  not  to  be  prejudiced  by  the  discrepancy  of  the  theories 
which  refer  now  to  this  and  now  to  that  special  part  of  the 
dwelling  as  the  seed  of  the  basilica,  nor  by  the  instability 
of  certain  overelaborate  efforts  to  trace  the  derivation  and 
development  in  detail. 

The  first  application  of  this  theory  was  still  fettered  by  the 
accident  of  the  name,  and  sought  the  origin  of  the  Christian 
basilica  in  the  basilicas  which,  according  to  Vitruvius,1  were 
attached  to  the  palaces  of  the  greater  nobility,  especially  of 
those  who  held  a  public  magistracy,  "because  both  public 
councils  and  private  judgments  and  decisions  had  often  to 
take  place  in  their  houses."  With  the  possible  exception  of 
the  house  but  just  now  brought  to  light  under  the  church  of 
S.  Caecilia  in  Trastevere,  the  whole  extent  of  Eoman  excava- 
tions fails  to  reveal  a  single  instance  of  such  private  basilicas 
as  an  adjunct  of  any  but  imperial  palaces.  It  does  not  appear 
from  Vitruvius's  account  that  it  was  an  invariable  feature  even 
of  the  greater  houses,  still  less  that  it  was  characterized  by  any 
uniform  style  of  architecture.  It  was  precisely  in  respect  to 
palace  and  villa  architecture  that  there  was  allowed  the  great- 
est liberty  of  invention ;  the  one  point,  however,  which  most 
broadly  characterized  it  was  the  fact  that  it  was  vaulted  archi- 
tecture, —  it  stood,  therefore,  in  the  greatest  conceivable  con- 
trast to  the  Christian  basilica.  Besides,  the  presumption  which 
we  have  raised  in  favor  of  the  derivation  of  the  basilica  from 
the  private  house  of  wealthy  disciples  by  no  means  extends  to 
the  palaces  of  the  greater  aristocracy.  It  is  not  conceivable 
that  any  considerable  number  of  such  houses  could  have  been 
put  at  the  disposition  of  the  Church  during  the  centuries  of 
persecution. 

It  is  the  ordinary  dwelling  of  the  well-to-do  citizen,  the  typi- 
cal Eoman  house,  to  which  we  must  look  as  the  customary 
place  of  assembly  for  the  early  Church  ;  it  is  only  to  such  an 
house  we  can  hope  to  trace  the  history  of  the  basilica.  One  of 
1  De  Architectura,  VI.  8. 

H 


ARCHITECTURE 

the  principal  factors  to  be  explained  is  the  uniformity  of  the 
church  edifice  throughoul  the  Empire.  This  is  not  so  much  a 
reflection  of  the  corporate  unity  of  the  Church  Eor  schismati- 
cal  bodies  clung  to  the  same  type  of  church  edifice  —  as  it  is  an 
evidence  of  a  common  origin  in  the  dwelling-house,  and  of  the 
uniformity  of  the  better  class  of  dwelling-houses  in  all  the  chief 
centres  of  Koiuan  iniluence.  It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  of 
the  Syrian  or  the  Egyptian  house,  or  of  other  national  pecu- 
liarities; it  is  enough  for  our  purpose  that  either  the  Greek  or 
the  Roman  t\  pe  of  dwelling,  or  a  combination  of  the  two,  was 
common  throughout  the  Empire.  The  large  "upper  room," 
which  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  as  the 
place  of  meeting  of  the  Church,  was  a  peculiarity  of  Syrian 
house  architecture,  and  it  has  no  relation  to  either  the  Greek 
or  Roman  house. 

In  the  Greek  or  Roman  house  there  was  respectively  but  one 
room  —  the  peristyle  or  the  atrium  —  which  could  have  served 
for  Christian  assemblies.  The  Greek  peristyle  (Fig.  25,  a)  was 
an  open  court  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  a  covered  colonnade 
about  which  the  various  rooms  for  public  or  private  use  were 
irregularly  disposed.  Opposite  the  doorway,  and  opening  in 
full  width  upon  the  court,  was  a  large  covered  room  —  the 
prostas  —  which  was  marked  by  the  presence  of  the  altar  and 
hearth  as  the  place  of  chief  dignity  and  as  the  centre  of  the 
family  life.  The  atrium  of  the  early  Italian  house  (atrium 
testudinatum)  was  very  different :  it  also  was  a  large  rectangu- 
lar room  surrounded  by  small  sleeping-chambers  and  work- 
rooms ;  but  it  was  covered,  together  with  the  rest  of  the  house, 
by  a  single  gable  roof.  It  had  its  tahlinum,  precisely  corre- 
sponding to  the  Greek  prostas,  but  it  had  also  a  peculiarity  in 
two  similar  rooms  —  the  alee  —  which  flanked  the  tablinum  and 
opened  at  right  angles  to  it,  with  their  full  width  upon  the  atrium, 
and  extended  in  depth  to  the  outer  walls  of  the  house.  This 
was  originally  a  device  for  giving  light  to  the  women  who  worked 
about  the  hearth  in  the  depth  of  the  atrium,  which  was  but 
poorly  lighted  by  the  door,  and  especially  so  when  the  front  of 
the  house  was  occupied  by  shops.  This  device  was  effective 
only  in  the  case  of  an  isolated  house ;  when  the  towns  became 
crowded  and  the  houses  immediately  adjoined  one  another,  the 
windows  could  no  longer  be  introduced  in  the  alee,  and  light 


THE   BASILICA      Origin 


gg 


and  air  had  to  be  introduced  by  giving  op  the  gabled  roof  and 
sloping  it  downward  from  all  sides  toward  the  atrium  (atrium 
tuscanicum,  Fig.  25,  b),  till  it  ended  with  a  rectangular  opening 
above  a  great  water  basin  (the  compluviurri).  The  alee,  how- 
ever, had  become  so  incorporated  with  family  customs  —  they 
were  in  particular  the  place  for  the  portraits  of  the  family 
ancestors — that  they  remained  an  established  constituent  of 
the  Roman  house.  This  is  of  especial  interest  because  it  alone 
seems  to  explain  the  transept  of  the  Christian  basilica,  and  to 
explain  also  why  this  feature  appears  only  in  Rome,  or  in  lands 
directly  under  Roman  influence. 


Fio.  25.  — Plans  of  Greek  and  Roman  houses. 

a,  Greek  house :   peristyle  and   prosta3.     b,  Roman   house :  atrium,  ate,  and  tablinum. 
c,  Roman  house  :  peristyle  —  atrium. 


The  old  type  of  Roman  house  was  with  the  beginning  of  the 
Empire  relegated  exclusively  to  the  country ;  with  it  we  have 
nothing  to  do,  since  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  faith  was 
confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  great  cities.  We  have  here 
to  do  especially  with  the  atrium  as  it  was  embellished  through 
the  influence  of  the  Greek  peristyle.  The  rich  required  a  larger 
house,  and  this  was  effected  in  either  of  two  ways :  by  extend- 
ing it  in  depth  by  the  addition  of  a  peristyle ;  or  by  transform- 
ing the  atrium  in  imitation  of  the  peristyle.  The  simplest 
improvement  of  the  atrium  was  effected  by  supporting  the  roof 
by  four  columns  at  the  corners  of  the  impluvium ;  a  more  ele- 
gant device  was  that  of  surrounding  the  impluvium  with  a 


100  ARCHITECTURE 

colonnade  <>n  three  or  four  sides.  The  latter  arrangement  per- 
mitted the  enlargement  of  the  central  open  space  to  any  extent 
that  might  he  desired,  and  the  consequent  multiplication  of  the 

surrounding  rooms.  It  is  especially  this  type  of  house  to  which 
we  must  refer  the  origin  of  the  basilica.  h\  the  example  here 
given  of  it  (Fig-  25,  c)  the  aloe  are  transposed  from  their  proper 
place,  evidently  on  account  of  the  exigencies  of  rebuilding  in  a 
restricted  space.  The  syncretism  of  the  Empire  made  this 
transformation  very  natural  and  very  common  in  all  large  towns. 
There  is  therefore  very  little  substantial  difference  between  the 
theory  of  Victor  Schultze,  who  derives  the  basilica  from  the 
peristyle,  and  that  of  Dehio,  who  derives  it  from  the  atrium  ; 
the  peristyle  was  in  the  East  the  only  room  available  for  Chris- 
tian gatherings  ;  in  the  West  the  atrium  transformed  into  a 
peristyle  was  the  most  natural  choice. 

It  only  remains  to  point  out  some  of  the  more  striking  anal- 
ogies between  the  basilica  and  the  chief  room  of  the  dwelling- 
house.  The  tdblinum  was,  obviously,  the  place  which  would  be 
occupied  by  the  presiding  officers  of  the  Church;  by  very 
ancient  tradition  it  was  marked  as  the  room  not  only  of  social 
honor,  but  of  a  certain  religious  reverence.  It  cannot  appear 
strange  that  in  the  basilica  this  room  assumed  an  apsidal  form, 
since  this  was  a  motive  so  exceedingly  common  in  all  Roman 
architecture  of  a  monumental  character.  Between  the  tabli- 
num  and  the  open  part  of  the  atrium  stood  an  ornamental 
stone  table,  the  only  reminder  of  the  sacred  hearth.  It  is  a 
very  striking  fact  that  this  is  precisely  the  position  of  the  holy 
table  in  the  basilica ;  when  we  take  into  account  the  similarity 
of  many  of  these  tables  with  the  most  ancient  altars  (see  Fig. 
54),  we  can  hardly  fail  to  admit  a  close  relation  between  them. 
A  peculiarity  connected  with  early  Christian  worship  —  one 
which  had  a  great  effect  upon  the  architecture,  inasmuch  as  it 
exacted  a  strict  adherence  to  th3  three-aisle  scheme  —  was  the 
location  of  the  faithful  in  the  side  aisles  and  transept,  rather 
than  in  the  nave,  which  was  more  commodious,  better  provided 
with  light,  and  distinctly  more  convenient  both  for  seeing  and 
hearing.  Strange  as  this  custom  is,  it  seems  to  have  its  expla- 
nation in  the  fact  that  the  nave  corresponds  to  the  open  court 
of  the  atrium,  which  was  unprotected  from  the  weather  and, 
therefore,  constituted  the  least  desirable  room.     The  choir  was 


THE  BASILICA—  Fundamental  Traits  101 

naturally  grouped  in  front  of  the  altar;  when  the  whole  room 
came  to  be  roofed  their  place  was  extended  well  down  the 
nave,  the  rest  of  which  was  occupied  by  the  catechumens. 

We  tnusl  su|)[)osc  that  in  adapting  the  atrium  to  the  use  of 
;i  church  one  of  the  first  cares  "I'  ill"  Christians  would  be  to 
roof  it  completely.  Allowing  for  a  provision  of  light  and  air 
—  the  house,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  enclosed  on  both 
sides  by  contiguous  buildings  —  this  could  be  accomplished 
substantially  in  but  one  way :  by  raising  a  roof  above  the  cen- 
tral aisle  (the  open  court)  high  enough  to  admit  light  from  the 
sides,  necessarily  changing  at  the  same  time  the  slope  of  the 
side  roofs.  This,  which  is  the  well-known  and  invariable  solu- 
tion of  the  basilicas  for  lighting  and  ventilation,  may  perhaps 
have  been  already  foreshadowed  by  its  occasional  use  for  the 
protection  of  the  private  house  against  the  cold ;  at  all  events, 
it  was  a  device  sufficiently  frequent  in  Roman  architecture, 
and  was  probablj'  resorted  to  in  the  case  of  some  of  the  civil 
basilicas. 

The  proportional  lengthening  of  the  plan  in  the  development 
of  the  basilica  was  due  to  the  obvious  conditions  of  this  type 
of  structure  :  it  might  be  extended  to  any  desired  length  with- 
out change  of  scheme,  while  very  great  extension  in  breadth 
required  an  additional  pair  of  colonnades.  Purely  artistic 
considerations — the  desire  for  horizontal  lines  of  perspective 
converging  at  the  altar  —  worked  as  obviously  in  the  same 
direction.  The  omission  of  the  colonnades  on  the  short  sides 
of  the  basilica  is  one  of  the  points  which  is  not  explained  by 
the  architecture  of  the  private  house.  It  is  to  be  remarked, 
however,  that  in  the  peristyle  there  was  usually  no  row  of  col- 
umns in  front  of  the  prostas,  and  that  in  the  atrium  of  similar 
form  the  same  rule  was  frequently  followed.  Finally,  in  the 
light  brick  construction  of  the  Christian  basilica,  which  was  so 
sharply  in  contrast  to  Roman  usage  in  the  construction  of  pub- 
lic buildings,  in  the  almost  total  absence  of  architectural  deco- 
ration on  the  exterior,  and  in  the  frequent  lack  of  windows  in 
the  side  walls,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  see  a  reminiscence  of 
its  origin  in  the  private  house. 

Hitherto  our  attention  has  been  directed  chiefly  to  the  early 
preparatory  history  of  the  basilica ;  we  have  now  to  study  it 
in  its  complete  development,  as  it  appears  immediately  after 


102 


ARCHITECTURE 


tin'  Peace  of  the  Church  in  the  buildings  of  Constantino,  and 
as  ii  remained  till  after  the  eighth  century.  Though  we  have 
traced  the  general  scheme  of  the  basilica  to  an  origin  far  luck 
in  the  age  of  persecution,  it  is  not  to  lie  denied  Unit  the  tri- 
umph of  the  Church  and  the  reign  of  Constantine  did  consti- 
tute an  epoch,  and  the  most  critical  epoch,  in  its  history.  We 
can  hardly  call  it  a  turning-point,  because  the  line  of  develop- 
ment was  not  substantially  deflected;  but  it  is  unquestionable 
that  up  to  that  time  the  church  edifice  must  have  been  very 
modest  both  in  point  of  size  and  of   decoration,  and  that  it 


a,  Cathedral  of  Parenzo. 


b,  S.  Pietro  in   Vincoli,   Rome. 
d.  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe. 


d 

Fig.  26.  —  Plans 
c,  S.   Clemente,   Rome. 


assumed  then,  for  the  first  time,  monumental  proportions  and 
a  lavish  wealth  of  decoration  which  enabled  it  to  vie  with  the 
temples  of  the  Classical  religion,  which  was  still  intrenched  in 
popular  custom,  and  to  attract  and  hold  minds  which  were 
unaffected  by  the  deeper  influences  of  Christianity.  In  this 
final  stage  of  its  development  the  basilica  naturally  drew  upon 
all  forms  of  Roman  architecture  and  art  which  were  compatible 
with  its  general  scheme. 

Christian  dependence  upon  Classical  forms  of  architecture 
was  rendered  more  direct  in  certain  details  by  the  frequent 
employment  of  fragments  of  disused  buildings,  —  particularly 
columns,  capitals,  architraves,  and  cornices.  The  adaptation  to 
a  church  use  of  pagan  temples,  or  even  civil  buildings,  was 


THE  BASILICA—  Classical  Forms 


103 


very  seldom  resorted  to;  but  the  pillage  of  disused  buildings 
—  a  piece  of  vandalism  which  was  begun  by  the  Romans 
themselves  —  was  very  common  after  the  fourth  century  and 
was  carried  on  wil.li  immeasurable  and  increasing  destruction 
throughout  the  Middle  Ages.  Rome  was,  of  course,  the  rich- 
est field  for  such  pillage,  and  the  object  of  it  was  chiefly  the 
great  store  of  marble  which  was  there  accumulated.  The  early 
Christian  period  was  advantageously  distinguished  by  the  fact 


c  «■ — i  o|      r 


,e=o> 


1       rCX 


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rJ 

r    i 

h 

f-m 



CD 

1  1 

U 

I 
'   I  I 

: 

I 

1   * 


of  Basilicas. 

e,  S.  Lorenzo,  Rome.  /,  Basilica,  in  Suweda,  Syria. 

h,  S.  Paul's,  Rome. 


g,  Basilica  Ursiana,  Bavenna. 


that  it  could  appreciate  the  productions  of  Classic  art  and  use 
them  in  their  original  form,  while  in  a  later  age  they  were 
regarded  simply  as  a  quarry  for  rough  materials. 

The  popular  notion,  which  ascribes  to  the  early  Church  the 
wanton  destruction  of  ancient  monuments  out  of  a  radical 
opposition  to  art  and  a  hatred  of  everything  connected  with 
the  pagan  religion,  is  very  far  from  being  justified.  As  a  mat- 
ter" of  fact  the  temples  were  most  of  them  in  use  in  Rome  long 
after  the  recognition  of  Christianity  as  the  religion  of  the 
Empire,  and  when  they  were  finally  closed  they  were  long 
kept  in  repair  at  the  expense  of  the  Christian  state  as  the 
chief  glory  of  the  city. 

Almost  all  the  individual  forms  which  entered  into  the  basil- 


104 


AliCIIITECTUItE 


ica  were  Classical,  and  although  taken  as  a  whole  the  basilica 
violated  the  principles  of  classical  construction  by  ignoring  the 

proper  constructive  symbolism  of  each  part,  it  is  nevertheless 
true  that  one  of  its  most  important  formative  principles  — 
the  horizontal  perspective  formed  by  parallel  colonnades  — 
was  thoroughly  Classical  in  spirit.    This  principle  was  brought 

to  more  forceful  expression  in  Christian  architecture  because 
it  was  brought  into  relation  with  a  ruling  religious  idea. 
Church  architecture  is  necessarily  internal  architecture ;  the 
idea  which  has  most  fundamentally  inspired  it  is  the  commun- 
ion of  saints  —  the  Christian  temple  is  the  house  of  the  congre- 
gation. This  communion  was  concretely  represented  by  the 
altar,  which  by  ancient  tradition  was  fixed  between  the  clergy 


A 

i  i 

Z        L 


a 


XI 


a,  S.  Maria  in   Cosmedin,  Rome,        b,  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo,   Ravenna. 
Ravenna,    d,  S.  Spirito,  Ravenna. 


Fig.  2T.  —  Plans 
c,  S.  Agata, 


and  the  people,  —  that  is,  close  to  one  end  of  the  basilica  and  on 
the  middle  axis,  so  that  toward  it  the  horizontal  lines  which 
were  emphasized  by  the  long  parallel  colonnades  seemed  to 
converge.  In  Gothic  architecture  this  motive  was  modified 
but  not  lost.  There  is  certainly  a  difference  to  be  observed  in 
this  respect  between  the  Gothic  cathedral  and  the  early  basilica, 
but  not  so  blunt  a  contrast  as  is  commonly  drawn ;  for  even  in 
the  Gothic  the  perpendicular  lines,  strongly  as  they  are  marked, 
remain  subordinate  to  the  horizontal.  In  the  round  churches, 
and  in  domed  churches  of  every  description,  there  was  a  very 
different  architectural  principle  at  work ;  for  there  the  princi- 
pal axis  was  central  and  vertical.    It  seems  hardly  just  to  say 


THE  BASILICA—  Plan 


105 


that  the  Christian  cult  could  not  accommodate  itself  to  this  type 
of  church  by  transferring  the  liturgical  centre  to  the  principal 
axis  of  the  building  —  that  is,  by  placing  the  altar  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  room.  But  it  certainly  did  not  do  so;  and  as  long 
as  the  altar  was  kept  near  the  periphery  of  the  building  there 
was  a  discord  between  the  perpendicular  axis  of  the  architec- 
ture and  the  horizontal  liturgical  axis.  "We  see  from  this  why 
it  is  that  the  scheme  of  the  basilica  has  remained  a  normal  and 
regulative  factor  in  church  architecture,  and  why  it  must  remain 
so  just  so  long  as  the  altar  retains  its  traditional  position  in  the 


of  Basilicas. 

e,  Xenodoehium   of  Pammachius,    Porto.       f,  S.   Maria  Maggiore,    Pome.       g,  Basilica 
in  Kalb-Luseh,  Syria. 

building,  and  the  Eucharist  its  same  high  dignity  in  the  Church. 
The  most  successful  solution  of  domed  architecture  as  applied 
to  the  church  adapted  itself  to  this  exigency  by  adopting  sub- 
stantially the  ground  plan  of  the  basilica. 


In  plan,  the  basilica  was  marked  by  two  principal  divisions : 
the  great  rectangular  hall,  which  was  the  room  of  the  laity,  and 
the  apse,  which  was  the  place  of  the  clergy.  To  this  must  be 
added  a  vestibule,  which  in  the  East  appears  as  a  definite 
architectural  feature  of  the  building  (the  narthex),  while  the 
same  purpose  was  served  in  the  West  by  the  adjoining  portico 
of  the  atrium  (see  p.  178).     The  vestibule  was  the  place  for 


106  AnciIITKCTURE 

the  ] nil i ( cuts,  of  whom.  ;is  is  well  known,  there  wore  many 
grades.  There  were  many  grades  and  kinds  also  within  the 
church,  each  to  Ik;  distinguished  from  the  other,  if  not  actually 
divided.  The  catechumens,  1  suppose,  were  usually  admitted 
to  the  rear  of  the  nave;  the  faithful  occupied  the  side  aisles, 
the  men  on  the  right  side  of  the  entranee  and  the  women  on 
the  left  ;  those  who  were  held  in  chief  honor  in  the  congrega- 
tion, as  the  widows  and  virgins,  and  those  who  on  account  of 
their  age  or  social  position  were  entitled  to  peculiar  regard, 
had  their  place  in  the  forward  end  of  the  aisles  or  in  the  tran- 
sept ;  the  different  orders  of  the  clergy  were  in  turn  distin- 
guished among  themselves,  the  bishop  had  his  seat  in  the 
middle  of  the  apsidal  circle,  the  presbyters  were  seated  on 
either  side  of  him  and  at  a  lower  level,  the  deacons  stood  near 
the  altar,  and  the  inferior  clergy  had  their  place  with  the  choir 
in  the  nave.  All  of  these  minor  divisions  were  not  marked 
architecturally,  but  generally  only  by  chancels  (p.  168)  or  cur- 
tains (p.  377),  yet  even  by  this  the  effect  of  architectural 
unity  must  have  been  seriously  marred.  Architecturally,  even 
the  three  principal  divisions  —  between  the  clergy  and  the 
laity  and  the  unbaptized  or  excommunicate  —  were  not  dis- 
tinctly enough,  marked,  or  rather  the  spaces  which  they 
marked  off  became  in  time  inadequate  for  the  several  classes 
for  which  they  were  designed,  so  that  both  a  part  of  the  clergy 
and  a  part  of  the  unbaptized  encroached  upon  the  nave. 

Fundamentally  the  basilica  constituted  a  single  room  in 
which  priests  and  people  gathered  in  common  worship  about 
the  common  altar.  According  to  a  strict  application  of  church 
symbolism  the  unbaptized  were  not  to  be  admitted  within  this 
room  ;  a  place  was  provided  for  them  without  the  doors  in  the 
atrium  or  in  the  narthex,  an  exception  being  made,  however,  in 
favor  of  the  catechumens.  The  atrium  was  a  square  open  court 
surrounded  by  a  portico  (Figs.  26,  a  and  c,  27  e,  29,  30).  With 
the  fifth  century  it  became  infrequent,  particularly  in  the  East ; 
but  even  in  case  it  was  removed,  the  portico  adjoining  the  church 
was  generally  retained,  or  in  rebuilding  it  was  imitated,  till  late 
in  the  Middle  Ages  (Figs.  26,  b  and  e,  27,  a).  In  the  East  this  nar- 
row vestibule  was  architecturally  incorporated  with  the  church 
(Figs.  26,/,  27,  g,  31,  52),  and  was  called  the  narthex.  The  nar- 
thex, when  attached  to  round  or  polygonal  buildings  (churches, 


THE  BASILICA  — Nave 


107 


baptisteries,  or  mausoleums),  terminated  at  each  end  in  an  apse 
(Figs.  44,  d,  e,  and  49).  In  Syria,  where  the  atrium  had  never 
been  in  use  to  hinder  the  effect  of  the  facade,  the  narthex 
received  an  architectural  solution  (Fig.  32)  which  had  a  marked 
influence  —  through  the  Crusades  —  upon  the  mediaeval  church 
facade  in  Europe.  The  vestibule  opened  into  the  church  by  at 
least  as  many  doors  as  there  were  aisles.  We  must  suppose 
that  of  the  penitents  only  the  "  wailers  "  were  kept  here,  for 
the  "  hearers  "  could  have  heard  the  lections  and  the  sermon 
only  in  case  they  were  admitted  within  the  church. 

The  great  body  of  the  church,  the  room  of  the  congregation, 
was  divided  by  colonnades  into  aisles,  which  were  always  odd 
in  number  (three  or  five),  as  the  colonnades  were  of  course 


n 


Fig.  2S.  — Plans  of  Basilicas. 

a,  Basilica  of  S.  Reparatus,  Orleansville,  Africa.       b,  S.  Agnese,  Rome. 

near  Rome. 


c,  S.  Sinforosa 


even.  The  width  of  each  of  the  side  aisles  was  about  half 
that  of  the  middle.  The  five-aisle  system  was  rare,  and  was 
only  adapted  to  the  greater  basilicas ;  even  in  this  case  the 
united  width  of  the  two  side  aisles  remained  below  that  of  the 
middle.  The  width  of  the  aisles  was  determined  by  technical 
considerations,  depending  especially  upon  the  strength  of  the 
roof  beams.  The  height  of  the  basilica  was  insignificant  in 
proportion  to  its  breadth ;  the  predominance  of  the  horizontal 
lines  was  thus  thoroughly  preserved.  The  total  width  of  the 
basilica  very  much  exceeded  its  height;  but  of  more  impor- 
tance for  the  interior  effect  was  the  fact  that  the  height  of 
each  aisle  (including  the  nave)  surpassed  its  breadth  only  by  a 


108  ARCHITECTURE 

small  fraction  —  \  to  '\.  The  heighl  also  was  conditioned  by 
technical  considerations,  namely,  bj  the  strength  of  the  colon- 
nades ..  liich  supported  the  walls.  Thin  and  lighl  as  the  brick 
walls  were,  they  had  bu1  an  unstable  support  in  the  columns, 
which  were  the  characteristic  and  almost  invariable  feature  of 
the  basilica. 

This  departure  from  Roman  tradition  —  the  adoption  of  the 
column  instead  of  the  pillar  as  a  wall  support —  we  have  traced  to 
its  origin  in  the  Roman  house;  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  detect 
the  influences  which  conduced  to  its  perpetuation.  In  the  first 
place  it  effected  a  sufficient  division  of  the  room  without  too 
much  marring  its  unity  or  interfering  with  the  transmission  of 
sight  and  sound;  another  consideration  was  the  artistic  delight 
which  was  felt  in  the  form  and  material;  while  by  no  means 
least  was  the  ease  with  which  columns  and  capitals  could  be 
procured  from  ruined  buildings.  For  the  Constantinian  basil- 
icas the  columns  were  expressly  made ;  but  later  it  became 
common  to  use  old  columns,  and  those  of  different  orders  and 
of  different  lengths  were  sometimes  united  iu  the  same  colon- 
nade. The  columns  —  except  those  which  were  taken  from 
ancient  monuments  —  were  rarely  channelled;  the  skill  to 
make  them  was  doubtless  lacking,  but  there  entered  also  into 
consideration  the  effect  of  the  rich  glass  mosaics  which 
covered  the  walls,  for  nothing  harmonized  so  well  with  this 
as  the  tone  of  the  smooth  polished  marble  and  its  broad  reflec- 
tion of  the  light. 

The  mosaic  decoration  had  its  effect  also  upon  the  capitals : 
beautiful  Classical  capitals  were  sometimes  employed  in  the 
basilicas  and  even  made  expressly  for  them  ;  but  the  rich  golds 
and  purples  of  the  mosaics  with  their  glints  of  reflected  light 
rendered  somewhat  vague  and  ineffective  their  sharp  outlines, 
and  the  tendency  which  culminated  in  the  Byzantine  capital 
was  toward  a  simple  treatment  in  low  relief,  without  detail,  or 
an  intricate  surface  design  deeply  perforated  so  as  to  present 
a  broad  effect  of  light  and  shade.  A  general  change  in  the 
shape  of  the  capital  was  due  to  the  disuse  of  the  architrave 
and  the  substitution  of  the  arch  (archivolt)  resting  directly 
upon  the  capital.  The  corners  of  the  Greek  capitals  were  ill- 
fitted  to  support  this  sort  of  pressure ;  the  Byzantine  capital 
assumed  generally  a  very  simple  and  solid  shape,  it  was  square 


THE   BASILICA—  Capitals 


100 


at  the  top  and  tapered  eonically  to  meet  the  circular  head  of 
the  column.  It  presented  therefore  four  smooth  surfaces  for 
the  low  relief  decoration  which  was  the  only  type  of  stone 
carving  then  practised.  When  the  wall  was  constructed  of 
stone  the  two  arches  which  sprang  from  the  capital  demanded  a 
broader  base,  and  in  this  case  the  capital  had  to  be  oblong  with 
bracket-like  extensions  on  either  side.  One  of  the  peculiarities 
of  Byzantine  architecture,  and  one  which  was  strictly  limited 
to  it,  grew  out  of  this  same  necessity ;  it  consisted  in  interpos- 
ing a  sort  of  second  capital  as  the 
immediate  support  of  the  arch, 
a  nearly  cubical  block  of  stone 
which  was  tapered  slightly  at  the 
bottom.  This  received  a  decora- 
tion similar  to  that  of  the  capital, 
though  generally  less  elaborate 
(see  Fig.  45). 

The  architrave  fell  more  and 
more  into  disuse  after  the  fourth 
century ;  it  lingered  longest  in 
places  like  Rome,  where  the 
people  were  accustomed  to  the 
lines  of  Classic  architecture,  and 
where,  it  may  be  added,  this 
member  might  be  taken  ready 
made  from  disused  buildings. 
In  S.  Peter's,  which  was  a  ba- 
silica of  five  aisles,  the  central 
colonnades  were  surmounted  by 
the  architrave,  the  second  rows 
by  the  archivolt;  but  it  is  doubtful  if  this  arrangement  dates 
from  the  original  construction.  The  architrave  was  used  in 
S.  Maria  Maggiore ;  the  archivolt,  in  S.  Paul's.  The  archi- 
traves in  S.  Lorenzo  outside  of  Rome  are  taken  from  an 
ancient  monument.  Even  after  its  general  disuse  as  the  sup- 
port of  a  wall,  the  architrave  continued  in  general  use  for  a 
variety  of  purposes,  and  especially  to  bind  together  a  row  of 
columns  (cf.  Figs.  36,  38). 

The  substitution  of  the  archivolt  in  this  connection  did  not 
comport  thoroughly  with  the  horizontal  principle  of  this  archi- 


Fig.  23.  —Plan  of  old  St.  Peter's. 


110 


ARCHITECTURE 


tectmv  ;  but  as  the  columns  wore  very  close  together  the  arches 
were  insignificant,  and  at  any  rate  the  horizontal  line  was 
strongly  maintained  by  a  cornice,  if  not  also  by  a  frieze.  The 
pan. 'Is  of  mosaic,  or  fresco  (Fig.  38),  or  still  more  signally  the 
procession  of  saints  such  as  decorates  the  wall  of  S.  Apollinare 
Xuovo  at  Kavenna  (Fig.  37),  conduced  to  the  same  effect. 
Structurally  there  was  not  much  to  choose  between  these  two 
types,  for  if  the  architrave  proved  a  poor  support  for  the  wall, 
the  thrust  of  the  arches  tended  to  dislocate  the  columns.  The 
arch  had  this  advantage,  however,  that  it  permitted  a  greater 


Fio.  30. —  The  old  basilica  of  S.  Peter's,  Rome. 


interval  between  the  columns,  and  consequently  a  freer  pros- 
pect from  the  aisles.  This,  as  time  went  on,  became  of  ever 
greater  importance,  for  ancient  columns  became  rare  and  new 
ones  more  difficult  to  make. 

As  a  rule  the  interval  between  the  columns  was  small  in  the 
beginning  and  greater  in  the  later  period  ;  it  is  specially  great 
in  the  churches  of  Ravenna.  This  was  carried  no  farther,  how- 
ever, than  the  limits  prescribed  by  the  dimensions  of  the  Classi- 
cal shaft.  Further  progress  toward  the  unification  of  the  room 
of  the  congregation  was  possible  only  by  the  use  of  the  pillar, 
which,  affording  a  more  solid  base,  permitted  the  construction 
of  a  broader  arch. 


THE    HAS  I  LI  C!  A— Columns  and  Pillars 


111 


In  the  early  Christian  period  the  pillar  was  seldom  substi- 
tuted for  the  column  except  in  Central  Syria.  Its  use  in  Syria 
was  <lue  in  part  to  the  lack  of  ancient  columns  to  draw  upon, 
but  still  more  to  the  fact  that,  no  wood  being  available,  the  con- 
struction was  exclusively  of  stum',  and  consequently  too  heavy 
to  be  supported  upon  columns  of  Classical  proportions.  In  one 
type  of  Syrian  church  three  broad  arches  on  either  side  of  the 
nave  replaced  the  colonnade  (Fig.  34).  In  one  section  of  the 
country,  where  wood  was  so  scarce  that  even  the  roof  had  1  o 
be  made  of  stone,  the  pillars  of  the  nave  served  as  support  for 
great  transverse  arches  which  spanned  each  of  the  three  aisles 
at  such  close  inter- 
vals that  plates  of 
stone  could  be  laid 
across  from  one  to 
another  to  form  the 
roof. 

Even  in  Syria,  how- 
ever, most  of  the 
churches  conformed 
to  the  common  type. 
Elsewhere  pillars 
were  sparingly  used, 
and  with  evident  dis- 
dain. The  only  basili- 
cas in  the  West  which 
are  known  to  have  been  built  with  pillars  are  the  basilica  at 
Orleansville  (Fig.  28,  a),  S.  Sinforosa  (Fig.  28,  c),  the  basilica 
attached  to  the  Xenodochium  at  Porto  (Fig.  27,  e)  and  the  older 
basilica  of  S.  Felix  at  Nola  for  which  S.  Paulinus  substituted 
one  with  columns.1  They  sometimes  appear  interchangeably 
with  the  columns  of  the  nave  (Fig.  38),  evidently  to  insure 
greater  stability ;  in  some  cases  at  least  they  are  the  result  of 
rebuilding.  In  the  case  of  a  transept,  pillars  were  always  used 
to  support  the  arch  which  divided  it  from  the  nave.  In  the 
later  development  of  dome  architecture  pillars  became  the  chief 
structural  support,  while  the  column  retained  hardly  more  than 
a  decorative  importance.     In  the  basilicas  the  height  of  the 


Fig.  31.  —  Church  iu  Babuda,  Syria. 


1  Poem  28  :  v.  200:  nam  steterant  vasto  deformibus  agmine  })ilis. 


115 


MU-llITKt'TUUK 


architrave  (or  archivolt)  varied  Erom  about  ,'„  to  ^  of  the  total 
height  of  the  clearstory  wall. 

A  peculiarity  of  the  East  was  the  construction  of  galleries 
over  the  side  aisles  and  opening  upon  the  nave ;  the  walls  above 
them  were  in  turn  supported  by  lower  arcades.  This  was  ap- 
parently a  common  feature  of  the  civil  basilicas,  but  in  the 
West  at  least  it  was  not  originally  employed  in  the  Christian. 
Even  in  the  East  it  was  probably  not  used  in  the  beginning; 


Fig.  32.  — Basilica  in  Turmanin,  Syria  (restoration  of  facade). 


at  all  events  the  Syrian  and  Palestinian  churches  almost  with- 
out exception  have  but  one  story.  Elsewhere,  however,  the 
two-story  scheme  became  the  rule  in  the  course  of  the  sixth 
century,  —  especially  in  domed  structures,  where  it  was  more 
in  keeping  with  the  architectural  lines  of  the  building  (Fig.  46). 
As  employed  in  the  basilica  it  had  a  tendency  to  raise  the  line 
of  vision  above  the  altar.  The  basilicas  of  Ravenna  were  in 
this  respect  uninfluenced  by  Byzantine  custom  ;  only  the  polyg- 
onal church  of  S.  Vitale  was  constructed  with  galleries.     The 


THE  BASILICA  — Windows  113 

galleries  which  appear  in  Koman  basilicas  (S.  Lorenzo,  S.  Agnese, 
S.  Cecilia,  and  SS.  Nereo  ed  Achilleo)  belong  to  the  period  (.sixth 
to  ninth  centuries)  during  which  Koine  was  subject  to  Byzan- 
tine influence.  The  galleries  were  apportioned  to  the  women, 
and  it  seems  probable  that  the  stricter  separation  of  the  sexes 
in  the  East  was  the  chief  reason  for  their  employment. 

Even  in  case  a  basilica  was  provided  with  galleries,  the  clear- 
story walls  rose  still  above  them  (with  rare  exceptions,  which 
were  probably  due  to  reconstruction),  for  the  direct  admission 
of  light  to  the  nave.  As  a  general  rule,  the  windows  corre- 
sponded to  the  intercolumniations  of  the  colonnade.  They 
became,  therefore,  less  frequent  as  in  the  course  of  time  the  in- 
tercolumniations were  made  greater;  but  in  any  case  they  were 
much  more  frequent  than  the  taste  of  a  later  age  demanded, 
for  it  became  the  custom  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  wall  up  every 
alternate  window.  The  same  intervals  were  observed  in  the 
clearstory  walls  of  the  transept.  There  were  generally  three 
windows  in  the  facade,  —  or  a  double  row  of  three,  —  and  the 
same  wider  the  gables  of  the  transept.  In  the  gables  there 
were  commonly  no  windows,  because  of  the  flat  ceiling  of  the 
basilica.  In  Syria  the  window  aperture  was  often  rectangu- 
lar ;  but  even  there  it  was  more  commonly  closed  above  by  an 
arch,  and  this  was  the  almost  invariable  custom  elsewhere.  In 
case  windows  were  introduced  in  the  walls  of  the  aisles,  they 
were  placed  at  much  rarer  intervals.  It  is  remarked  as  a  point 
of  contrast  between  the  basilicas  of  Rome  and  of  Ravenna, 
that  the  former  —  at  least  the  more  notable  of  them  — had  no 
windows  in  the  side  walls,  as  had  the  latter.  The  Roman  basil- 
icas were  also  without  windows  in  the  apse,  while  elsewhere, 
especially  in  later  constructions,  they  were  usual,  generally 
to  the  number  of  three.  This  is  probably  to  be  connected 
with  the  fact  that  the  earliest  and  greatest  basilicas  of  Rome, 
which  served  as  patterns  for  the  rest,  had  the  apse  directed 
toward  the  west,  while  later  custom  prescribed  an  easterly 
direction  (see  p.  176). 

Small  window  openings  were  sometimes  closed  only  by  shut- 
ters, as  a  protection  against  cold  or  rain.  Ancient  stone  shutters, 
moving  upon  hinges,  are  still  preserved  in  Central  Syria.  But  in 
general  the  windows  were  closed  by  a  latticework  of  metal, 
or  by  thin  plates  of  stone  —  often  translucent  marble  or  ala- 


114 


AlU'IUTEt'Tl'liE 


baster  —  which  were  closely  perforated  with  small  apertures 
composing  a  more  or  less  ornamental  pattern  |  Figs.  42,  153).  A 
wind0w  at  Grado,  which  is  here  illustrated,  exemplifies  a 
method  of  making  such  plates  at  small  expense,  for,  though 
apparently  of  stone,  it  is  actually  of  cement,  and  was  formed 
in  a  mould.  The  small  apertures  in  the  window  plates  were 
sometimes  tilled  with  glass,  clear  or  colored;  or  with  some 
translucent  stone,  as  in  the  case  of  the  early  windows  of  S. 
Lorenzo,  which  are  incorporated  with  the  mosaic  of  the  trium- 
phal arch  (Fig.  130);  but  they  were  usually  left  open,  allowing 
ingress  to  air  as  well  as  light.      The  smallness.  of  the  aper- 


Fig.  33.  —  Basilica  in  Turmanin,  Syria. 


tures  sufficed  to  protect  the  interior  from  rain,  and  they  divided 
the  broad  shafts  of  light  into  scattered  beams,  which  were  par- 
ticularly favorable  for  the  effect  of  the  mosaics. 

The  basilicas  were  very  clearly  lighted  in  comparison  to 
most  of  the  Gothic  churches  ;  the  obstruction  to  the  light 
which  was  offered  by  the  stone  window  plates  was  compen- 
sated by  the  frequency  of  the  windows,  and  still  more  by  the 
reflection  on  all  sides,  from  the  polished  surfaces  of  marble  and 
from  the  bright  glass  mosaic,  which  at  once  increased  and  soft- 
ened the  light  of  the  building.  The  cathedral  of  Monreale 
near  Palermo,  though  a  late  mediaeval  building,  gives  a  more 
perfect  notion  than  does  any  other  monument  of  the  effect  of 
early   Christian  decoration  in  marble  and   mosaic.      In  this 


THE  BASILICA  — Doors  115 

church  one  cannot  but  recognize  that --the  effect  would  be  en- 
hanced if,  for  the  broad  windows  of  clear  glass,  there  wen-  sub- 
stituted perforated  marble  plates  of  the  ancient  type.  It  must 
be  recognized,  too,  that  colored  glass,  such  as  filled  the  windows 
of  the  late  Gothic  churches,  would  have  interfered  in  some 
measure  with  the  definite  color  scheme  of  the  mosaics.  In 
fact,  the  means  resorted  to  for  lighting  the  early  churches  was 
far  from  being  imperfect;  and  not  the  least  of  its  advantages 
was  that  it  insured  purity  or  air  and  good  ventilation  without 
causing  strong  draughts  in  the  lower  part  of  the  church. 

The  introduction  of  windows  in  the  lower  wall  of  the  apse 
did  not  have  a  good  effect.  They  would  hardly  have  been  used 
except  for  the  symbolical  interest  which  attached  to  the  rising 
sun  shining  upon  the  morning  Eucharist.  The  mosaics  them- 
selves are  the  proper  illumination  of  the  apse,  and  the  play  of 
reflected  light  upon  the  rounded  or  spherical  surfaces  of  the 
apse  is  one  of  its  singular  attractions.  This  effect  was  enhanced 
by  the  multitude  of  little  lamps  which  often  adorned  the  altar 
room,  but  it  could  only  be  marred  by  direct  shafts  of  light 
piercing  the  wall. 

The  doors  of  the  basilica  were  commonly  limited  to  the  fa- 
Qade.  The  middle  door  leading  into  the  nave  was  greater  than 
those  which  flanked  it,  and  the  leaves  of  this  door  especially 
were  a  favorite  field  for  decoration.  Notable  are  the  carved 
wood  doors  of  S.  Sabina  in  Rome  (Figs.  105,  106)  and  of  the 
cloister  of  S.  Catharine  on  Mt.  Sinai.  Bronze  doors  from  Clas- 
sical buildings  were  employed,  as  in  the  Lateran  Baptistery 
(from  the  Baths  of  Caracalla)  and  in  the  church  of  SS. 
Cosma  e  Damiano  (formerly  Temple  of  Romulus).  Bronze 
doors,  as  they  were  made  in  the  Christian  period,  commonly 
consisted  of  thin  plates  of  metal  supported  upon  wood,  as, 
for  instance,  the  doors  of  S.  Sophia,  which  are  still  in  part  pre- 
served. Such  doors  were  generally  decorated  with  a  purely 
architectural  ornamentation.  Honorius  I.  decorated  the  mid- 
dle door  of  S.  Peter's  with  975  pounds  of  silver,  and  inscribed 
a  long  Latin  inscription  upon  each  leaf.  Richly  ornamented 
stone  doors  are  found  in  Central  Syria.  Entrances  upon  the 
sides  of  the  church  Avere  not  common  except  in  Syria,  since  the 
front  alone  of  the  church  was  usually  free. 

The  roof  of  the  basilica  was  of  wood.     The  only  exception 


116 


AR<  hi Ti-:r 77  /.■/•; 


is  con  si  i  I  nt  imI  by  some  of  bhe  Syrian  elm  relics  above  mentioned; 
Imt  the  churches  <>i  Central  Syria,  stand  so  thoroughly  apart 
ami  by  themselves  that  they  deserve  a  separate  treatment  and 
a  fuller  one  than  can  be  given  here  For  adequate  informa- 
tion about  this  interesting  architecture,  one  must  refer  to  the 
work  of  de  Vogue.1  In  the  basilicas,  therefore,  East  and  West, 
—  and  in  Syria  wherever  wood  was  to  he  had,  —  alow  gable  roof 
surmounted  the  nave  and  transept,  and  a  shed  roof  of  the  same 
angle  covered  the  aisles.  The  commonest  covering  for  the  roof 
was,  of  course,  terra-cotta  tiles.  At  Ravenna  colored  glazed 
tiles  were  sometimes  employed,  and  patterns  were  formed  by 
them.  The  roof  of  great  churches  was  often  covered  with  lead, 
but  the  noblest  material  for  this  purpose  was  bronze.      Hono- 


Fig.  34.  —  Longitudinal  section  of  basilica  in  Kuweha,  Syria. 

rius  I.  had  the  roof  of  S.  Peter's  covered  with  bronze  tiles.2 
The  bronze  tiles  of  the  Constantinian  church  of  the  Apostles  at 
Constantinople  were  gilt,  so  that  in  the  sunlight  they  nearly 
blinded  the  beholder.3 

It  is  probable  that  in  the  basilicas  of  Central  Syria  the  roof 
and  its  supports  were  visible  from  below.  That  these  basilicas 
were  not  ceiled,  but  were  open  clear  to  the  roof,  is  proved  es- 
pecially by  the  windows  which  appear  in  the  gable,  sometimes 
a  round  window  divided  into  four  compartments  by  a  cross,  a 
precursor  of  the  rose  window.  It  has  been  commonly  sup- 
posed that  the  basilicas  of  the  West  were  often,  if  not  regu- 
larly, covered  in  the  same  way.  This  notion  is  due  solely  to 
the  fact  that  in  the  restorations  which  were  undertaken  in  the 


1  See  Bibliography. 

2  Lib.  Pont.,  Vita  Honor. 


3  Eusebius,  Vita  Const.  IV.  58. 


THE   BASILICA—  Ceiling 


117 


Middle  Ages  the  flat  ceiling  was  doI  retained,  because  it  was 
no  longer  in  keeping  with  the  lines  to  which  people  had  be- 

come  accustomed   in   R anesque  and   Gothic   churches.      It 

cannot  be  denied  that  this  scheme  was  often  rendered  very 
attractive — as  in  S.  Miniato  and  in  the  cathedral  of  Monreale 
—  by  the  rich  designs  in  color  with  which  the  rafters  were 
painted.  But  there  remains  no  doubt  that  the  general  rule 
prescribed  a  Hat  ceiling  for  the  ancient  basil- 
ica, as  well  above  the  aisles  as  above  the 
nave  ;  and  it  is  probable  tl 
was  subject  to  no  other 
than  that  mentioned  above. 
In  this  respect  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  basilica  was 
influenced,  not  only  by 
a  Classic  tradition, 
but  by  two  consid- 
erations, the  one 
artistic  and  the 
other  practical, 
which  attached 
themselves  di- 
rectly to  the  reli- 
gious use  of  the 
building.  Artisti- 
cally it  was  of  great 
importance  that 
the  eye  should  not 
be  tempted  to  stray 
up  among  the  raf- 
ters of  the  roof  and 

away  from  the  apse  and  the  altar,  toward  which  all  the  chief 
lines  of  the  building  led ;  in  maintaining  the  horizontal  lines 
of  the  basilica  no  feature  had  so  decisive  an  influence  as  the 
ceiling.  Practically,  it  was  of  no  less  importance  that  the 
building  should  be  acoustically  adapted  to  its  use  as  an  audi- 
torium. No  other  established  type  of  church  building  has 
ever  so  thoroughly  fulfilled  this  requirement,  nor  ever  seri- 
ously aimed  to  do  so.  The  character  of  church  worship  in  the 
Middle  Ages  rendered  this  a  question  of  minor  consideration ; 


Fig.  35.  —  Basilica  in  Kalb-Luseh.  Syria. 


118  AliCIIITECTUBE 

bill  in  the  early  period  it  was,  as  it,  lias  come  to  lie  again  in  tin; 
Protestant  ehnrelies.  a  matter  of  supreme  importance.  Even 
forthe  intoning  of  the  pi  avers  and  the  chanting  of  the  Psalms 
a  ;j[(><>(1  acoustic  quality  was  a  desideratum,  hut  besides  that,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  long  lections  and  the  sermon 
constituted  a  very  important  part  of  the  Eucharistic  celebration 
in  the  early  Church.  During  the  earlier  part  of  our  period  the 
bishop  was  accustomed  to  address  the  congregation  from  his 
seat  in  the  apse;  but  in  the  course  of  the  fifth  century,  the 
great  size  of  the  basilicas,  as  well  as  the  interposition  of  the  ci- 
borium  between  the  cathedra  and  the  nave,  naturally  prompted 
the  practice  of  preaching  from  one  of  the  lectors'  pulpits  in  the 
body  of  the  church. 

The  flat  ceiling  of  the  basilica  was  supported  by  heavy 
beams  extending  from  wall  to  wall  and  crossed  at  right  angles 
by  longitudinal  beams  which  formed  with  them  square  or 
oblong  spaces  for  deeply  recessed  panelling.  It  appears  from 
ancient  texts  that  various  styles  of  panelling  were  in  use,  but 
that  the  most  usual  was  the  style  traditional  to  the  Greek 
temple,  known  as  lacunar ia.  The  ceiling  was  richly  decorated 
in  color  and  gold.  Some  ceilings  are  spoken  of  as  entirely 
covered  with  gold,  and  when  gold  was  used  it  must  of  course 
have  dominated  over  any  other  decoration ;  but  it  is  obvious 
that  the  effect  of  the  gold  would  be  enhanced  by  some  contrast 
in  color,  and  in  this  case  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the 
beams  would  be  principally  decorated  in  gold  and  the  recessed 
panels  in  color  —  dark  blue  and  red.  Some  of  the  descriptions 
of  early  ceilings  are  very  enthusiastic :  Eusebius,  describing 
the  Constantinian  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  says  that  the 
golden  ceiling  reflected  the  whole  temple  as  in  a  sea  of  light. 
The  numerous  'windows  which  were  immediately  under  the 
ceiling  must  have  added  much  to  its  effect,  and  the  ceiling 
in  turn  must  have  contributed  greatly  to  the  lighting  of  the 
whole  building.  Owing  to  the  perishable  material,  no  ancient 
ceiling  has  been  preserved.  The  Liber  Pontificalis  frequently 
recounts  the  restoration  of  the  ceiling  timbers.  But  the  res- 
torations were  often  accomplished  piecemeal,  and  they  may  be 
supposed  to  have  followed  often  the  ancient  pattern. 

The  decoration  of  the  floor  and  walls  is  treated  in  the  chap- 
ter on  Mosaic  (page  295) ;  it  need  be  described  here  only  so  far 


THE   BASILICA  —  Decora tion 


119 


as  is  necessary  in  furnishing  once  for  all  a  general  impression 
of  the  basilica.  The  floor,  in  accordance  with  Roman  custom, 
was  finished  in  stone  mosaic,  predominantly  in  light-colored 
marble.  The  side  walls  and  the  recess  of  the  apse,  up  to  or 
above  a  man's  height,  were  lined  with  colored  marbles  com- 
posed in  large  geometrical  patterns  {opus  sectile).  The  rest  of 
the  wall  space  was  covered  with  mosaic  pictures,  which  during 
the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century  were  executed  with  natu- 
ral   stones,  afterward  with  cubes  of   colored  glass,  in  many 


Fig.  36.  —  Cathedral  of  Torcello.     Seventh  century. 

tints,  but  usually  upon  a  background  of  purple  or  gold.  Where 
means  failed  for  the  execution  of  pictures  in  mosaic,  they  were 
done  in  fresco,  and  in  one  way  or  another  the  whole  surface  of 
the  brick  wall  was  covered  and  concealed,  as  the  traditions 
of  Roman  construction  demanded.  There  was  no  effort  to 
represent  in  the  decoration  the  structural  purpose  of  the  wall ; 
above  the  cornice,  or  the  frieze,  the  structural  symbolism  was 
entirely  ignored ;  the  wall  was  treated  merely  as  a  screen  which 
enclosed  the  room,  with  complete  abstraction  of  the  fact  that 
it  actually  supported  the  weight  of  the  roof.  In  the  Byzantine 
domed  architecture  there  was  the  same  freedom  in  the  treat- 
ment of  the  wall  merely  as  a  field   for  pictorial  decoration. 


120  ARCHITECTURE 

This  has  often  been  accounted  a  serious  defect  in  eaxly  Chris- 
tian architecture;  it  stands  in  specially  strong  contrast  to  the 
strictly  organic  treatment  of  the  Gothic.  This  practice  and 
this  conception  of  the  wall   were  nevertheless  thoroughly  in 

accord  with  (J reck  traditions,  indeed  with  the  early  traditions 
of  the  Aryan  race.  The  wall,  in  fact,  constitutes  but  a  poor 
support;  it'  it  happen  to  serve  as  such,  nothing  better  can  be 
done  with  it  than  to  ignore  the  fact.  The  comparison  with  the 
Gothic  is  not  to  the  point,  for  in  the  developed  style  the  wall 
practically  disappeared,  or  rather  was  represented  by  the  col- 
ored glass  windows. 

Most  of  the  wall  space  was  portioned  out  into  rectangular 
fields  convenient  for  the  Biblical  scenes  or  other  religious 
themes  which  were  to  be  represented.  There  was  no  fixed 
rule,  such  as  obtained  in  later  Byzantine  times,  for  the  location 
in  different  parts  of  the  church  of  the  several  themes  which 
were  represented.  But,  iu  general,  historical  pictures  (literal 
Biblical  illustrations)  adorned  the  nave,  while  the  great  sym- 
bolical subjects  were  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  altar.  The 
half  dome  termination  of  the  apse  was  invariably  the  place  for 
the  principal  theme ;  its  spherical  surface  was  singularly  favor- 
able for  the  best  effects  of  the  lustrous  glass  mosaic.  On  the 
curved  but  perpendicular  wall  below  it  there  was  often  room 
for  another  subject.  As  the  height  of  the  apse  was  consider- 
ably less  than  that  of  the  ceiling,  and  its  breadth  generally 
less  than  that  of  the  nave,  it  intersected  the  wall  of  the  church 
in  a  great  arch  (the  apsidal  arch)  which  provided  a  space  hardly 
less  eligible  for  a  single  grand  theme.  It  was  under  this  arch 
that  the  altar  was  located  ;  or,  in  case  there  was  a  transept, 
under  a  second  arch  (the  triumphal  arch,  according  to  a  later 
terminology),  of  the  same  height  and  similarly  decorated,  which 
separated  the  transept  from  the  nave.  These  two  arches  with 
the  apse  formed  one  complex  as  seen  from  the  nave ;  the  Apoc- 
alyptic visions  which  adorned  them  are  the  very  triumph  of 
the  mosaic  art.  The  apse  and  these  neighboring  arches  con- 
tributed most  essentially  to  the  total  effect  of  the  basilica;  they 
constituted  the  only  variety  which  enlivened  the  monotonous 
lines  of  its  architecture  ;  it  was  at  the  triumphal  arch  the  hor- 
izontal lines  were  first  broken,  and  the  gaze  which  was  irre- 
sistibly drawn  to  the  altar  was  then  first  bid  to  soar.     This 


THE  BASILICA  —  The  Presbyterium 


121 


complex  of  arch  and  apse,  with  the  noble  decoration  which 
adorned  it,  constituted  the  crowning  glory  of  the  basilica;  it 
deserves  to  be  compared  to  the  prospect  which  was  enjoyed  by 
the  Greek  worshippers,  who  stood  without  and  gazed  beyond 
the  altar  to  the  pediment  of  the  temple. 

Having  already  described  the  vestibule  of  the  church  and  the 
room  of  the  congregation,  it  remains  only  to  speak  of  the  room 


Fig.  37.  — S.  Apollinare  Nuovo,  Eavenna.     Sixth  century. 


of  the  clergy.  This  part  of  the  church  was  known  by  various 
names  according  as  one  or  another  aspect  of  it  was  present  to 
the  mind.  The  name  presbyterium  was  given  it  as  the  place  of 
the  higher  clergy ;  apsis,  exedra,  and  concha  refer  to  its  form ; 
bema  refers  to  the  fact  that  it  was  raised  by  several  steps  above 
the  floor  of  the  church ;  and  tribunal  (also  tribuna),  to  its  like- 
ness to  the  platform  occupied  by  the  magistrates  in  the  civil 


ll"2 


MK1I1TECTURE 


basilica.  A  good  ileal  that  belongs  to  Uiis  topic  lias  already 
lieen  anticipated  incidentally  in  the  course  of  the  preceding 
paragraphs  ;  still  other  subjects  which  one  might  expect  to  find 
treated  here  musl  be  postponed,  so  far  as  any  detailed  descrip- 


Fig.  38.  — S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  Eome.     Eighth  century  (restoration). 


tion  is  concerned,  to  a  later  page,  —  all,  that  is,  which  belongs 
not  so  strictly  to  the  architecture  as  to  the  furniture  of  the 
church,  as  the  altar  and  its  ciborium,  the  chancels,  the  pulpits, 
and  the  seats. 

In  this  connection,  however,  attention  needs  to  be  called  to 


THE  DA  SILICA— The  Transept  123 

the  architectural  importance  of  the  c.iboriiim,  or  canopy,  which 
surmounted  the  altar.  The  nearest  analogy  of  the  ciborium  is 
to  be  found  in  the  temple-like  structure  which  frequently  sur- 
mounted a  tomb  or  covered  a  sarcophagus.  The  immediate 
suggestion  of  its  use  was  obviously  the  desire  to  do  honor  to 
the  altar  by  covering  it,  and  by  separating  it  ideally  from  the 
rest  of  the  building.  But,  besides  this,  with  the  construction  of 
great  basilicas  there  arose  an  architectural  necessity  for  this  or 
for  some  similar  device.  The  altar,  no  matter  what  might  be 
the  size  of  the  church,  retained  always  the  same  very  limited 
dimensions.  Of  itself,  therefore,  it  was  ill  fitted  to  constitute 
the  architectural  centre  of  a  huge  basilica ;  it  needed  then,  as 
it  has  always  needed,  some  architectural  adjunct  which  might 
vary  in  size  with  the  proportions  of  the  building,  and  serve  even 
in  the  greatest  to  mark  the  altar  as  the  preeminent  object  of 
regard,  as  the  centre  and  explanation  of  the  liturgical  order  of 
the  church.  This  was  approximately  the  only  solution  which 
was  possible  so  long  as  the  bishop's  throne  remained  in  the 
middle  of  the  apse  and  the  celebrant  faced  the  people  from  be- 
hind the  altar.  The  reredos  of  the  Gothic  church  was  another 
solution  under  changed  conditions.  It  can  hardly  be  accounted 
so  successful  a  one,  since  it  afforded  only  a  background  and  not 
a  shrine  for  the  altar,  and  was  besides  too  closely  incorporated 
with  it. 

It  is  evident  that  in  the  original  disposition  of  the  basilica 
the  apse  was  intended  to  furnish  sufficient  room  for  all  of  the 
higher  clergy.  How  thoroughly  traditional  this  feature  was,  is 
proved  by  the  tenacity  with  which  it  was  conserved  after  it  had 
ceased  to  correspond  to  the  growing  importance  of  the  clergy 
and  the  increasing  elaboration  of  the  ritual.  The  room  of  the 
clergy  was  clearly  circumscribed,  and  therefore  the  more  ex- 
pressly limited,  by  the  fact  that  the  half-circular  floor  of  the 
apse  was  raised  by  two  or  three  steps  above  that  of  the  nave. 
The  altar  was  commonly  raised  a  few  steps  higher  and  stood  in 
the  middle  of  the  chord  of  the  apse ;  on  either  side  of  it  were 
chancels  which  separated  the  room  of  the  clergy  from  the  rest 
of  the  basilica. 

If  this  space  was  not  actually  too  small  to  accommodate  the 
number  of  clergy  who  might  be  present,  it  was  still  not  large 
enough  to  comport  with  their  dignity,  or  to  distinguish  clearly 


124  ARCHITECTURE 

the  differenl  orders.  The  want,  of  a  greater  spare  must  have 
been  fell  already  before  the  end  of  the  third  century,  that  is, 
before  the  construction  of  any  of  the  basilicas  which  we  know. 
The  fad  thai  this  want  was  cot  satisfied  l>>  an\  architectural 
innovation, — such,  for  example,  as  a  deepening  of  the  apsidal 
room  alter  t  he  manner  of  the  Gothic  choir,  —  hut  by  the  mere 
makeshift  of  extending  the  chancels  into  the  nave  and  across 
the  aisles,  is  attributed  to  the  impotence  of  architectural  inven- 
tion in  the  early  Christian  period.  But  it  must  be  observed 
that,  whereas  the  Gothic  with  its  lofty  pointed  arches  naturally 
invited  the  construction  of  deeply  recessed  spaces  beyond  the 
quadrangular  plan,  the  lines  of  the  basilica  as  distinctly  for- 
bade it.  The  round  or  polygonal  churches  which  were  con- 
structed with  dome  and  vault  readily  allowed  of  a  deeply 
recessed  apse  (Figs.  49,  50),  but  in  the  basilica  it  must  have 
destroyed  the  clear  and  noble  effect  of  the  half  dome  and  arch, 
which  we  have  but  just  now  had  occasion  to  praise  as  its  chief 
architectural  excellence. 

The  transept  furnished  an  adequate  solution  for  this  need, 
although  it  was  not  developed  expressly  to  meet  it,  but  was 
derived,  as  we  have  seen,  from  a  traditional  feature  of  the  Roman 
house,  and  was  therefore  limited  to  Rome  and  to  the  lands 
which  were  most  directly  under  the  influence  of  the  Roman 
Church.  The  transept  was  as  a  rule  somewhat  narrower  than 
the  nave ;  the  only  exception  is  the  transept  of  the  Lateran, 
which  is  slightly  wider.  The  lateral  termination  of  the  tran- 
sept generally  coincided  with  the  wall  of  the  aisles,  and  there- 
fore did  not  interrupt  the  quadrangular  plan  of  the  basilica. 
The  exceptional  cases  in  which  it  extended  slightly  beyond  this 
line  belong,  however,  to  the  oldest  and  most  important  of  the 
Roman  basilicas,  —  S.  Peter's,  S.  Paul's,  and  the  Lateran  (Figs. 
26,  h,  29), —  and  it  was  probably  the  great  importance  of  these 
churches  which  contributed,  together  with  purely  architectural 
and  symbolic  considerations,  to  impress  this  scheme  upon  the 
Gothic  cathedral.  In  a  church  which  was  provided  with  a 
transept,  the  altar  was  not  located  beneath  the  apsidal  arch,  but 
on  the  line  which  separated  the  transept  from  the  nave,  beneath 
the  circus  major,  as  it  was  called  in  the  Liber  Pontificalis.  This 
left  between  the  altar  and  the  apse  ample  space  for  the  clergy, 
and  in  its  wings  provided  accommodation  for  the  altars  of  the 


THE  BASILICA      Prothesia 


125 


prothesis,  upon  which  the  offerings  of  the  people  were  bestowed 
and  from  which  the  bread  and  wine  for  the  Eucharist  wen- 
taken.     The  whole  of  the  transept,  or  at  least  the  pari  reserved 


■ , 


Fig.  39.  —  Cathedral  of  l'arenzo.     Sixth  century. 


to  the  clergy,  was  raised  like  the  floor  of  the  apse,  and  sur- 
rounded by  chancels,  sometimes  also  by  rows  of  columns  and 
curtains. 


126  Mi<  IIITECTUBE 

'riic  altars  of  prothesis  were  obviously  a  necessary  part  of 
the  furniture  of  the  church  so  long  as  the  offerings  of  the 
people  were  largely  made  in  kind;  a  mere  reminiscence  of  them 
is  preserved  in  the  credence  upon  which  the  Eucharistic  ele- 
ments are  placed  before  they  are  carried  to  the  altar.  It 
appears  that  one  table  of  prothesis  often  sufficed;  but  the 
separation  of  the  sexes  to  the  one  side  and  the  other  of  the 
church  must  as  a  rule  have  required  one  table  at  the  end  of 
each  aisle,  or,  in  case  there  was  a  transept,  in  each  of  its  wings. 
The  Liber  Pontificalis  records  the  gift  by  Constantine  to  the 
Lateran  of  "  seven  altars  of  purest  silver  weighing  two  hundred 
pounds  each."  This  has  been  relied  upon  as  a  proof  of  the  plu- 
rality of  altars  in  that  early  age  of  the  Church  ;  but  these  silver 
altars  were  evidently  nothing  else  than  tables  of  prothesis,  and 
they  correspond,  as  Duchesne  points  out,  to  the  number  of  dea- 
cons in  the  Koman  Church.  In  case  there  was  no  transept,  there 
was  room  found  for  these  tables  and  for  the  services  connected 
with  them  at  each  side  of  the  apse  at  the  extremities  of  the 
aisles,  and  this  room  was  set  apart  merely  by  means  of  chan- 
cels and  curtains.  Remains  of  such  chancels  are  still  in  place 
in  the  ancient  basilica  of  S.  Reparatus  in  Orleans ville  (Fig.  28,  a). 

In  churches  which  were  without  the  transept  —  as  were 
many  of  the  Roman  basilicas,  and  all  those  of  Ravenna  and  of 
the  East  —  there  was  no  means  of  enlarging  the  apsidal  room 
except  by  placing  the  altar  some  distance  in  front  of  the  chord 
of  the  apse,  and  extending  the  platform  and  chancels  corre- 
spondingly. But  the  Eastern  Church  found  some  compensa- 
tion for  the  transept  in  the  construction  of  two  rooms  which 
projected  beyond  the  quadrangular  plan,  flanking  the  apse  on 
either  side  and  opening  upon  the  side  aisles  (Figs.  26,  d  and/, 
27,  d,  33).  Except  in  Central  Syria  the  original  shape  of  these 
rooms  cannot  often  be  established  with  certainty,  for  few 
parts  of  the  church  were  liable  to  suffer  so  much  from  restora- 
tion. One  of  the  rooms,  called  the  prothesis,  was  intended  to 
receive  the  offerings  of  the  people  ;  the  other,  the  diaconicon, 
served,  like  the  later  sacristy,  for  keeping  the  church  utensils 
and  the  sacred  and  liturgical  books.  The  diaconicon  was  used 
for  the  vesting  of  the  clergy,  and  to  it  the  people  also  might 
resort  to  study  the  Scriptures.  The  latter  fact  is  indicated  by 
a  titidus  which  Paulinus  of  Nola  devised  for  the  door  :  — 


Till-:   BASILICA  —  Prothesis 


127 


SI    QUEM    s.wri'A    TENET    MEDITAND]    l\    LEGE    VOLUUTABj 
BIC    POTERIT   RESIDENS    8ACRIS    INTENDERE    C.IBRIS. 

In  plan  the  two  rooms  were  identical,  but  the  prothesis  opened 
by  a  greater  door  into  the  church.      There  was  sometimes  a 
direct  communication  between  the  diaconicon  and  the  pre 
terium:  but  in  the  East  there  was  never  such  a  communica- 


Fig.  40.  — Apse  of  the  basilica  Severiana,  JSaples.     Fourth  century. 

tion  in  the  case  of  the  prothesis,  for  one  of  the  most  impres- 
sive features  of  the  Oriental  ritual  was  the  passage  of  the 
priests  carrying  the  Eucharistic  elements  through  the  body 
of  the  church  and  in  through  the  chancel  doors  to  the  presby- 
terium.  There  was  no  rule  to  establish  upon  which  side  of 
the  church  the  prothesis  and  the  diaconicon  ought  respectively 
to  be  placed. 

In  the  course  of  time,  as  offerings  in  kind  fell  out  of  use  and 
the  other  uses  of  the  prothesis  were  conveniently  served  by  the 


128 


ARCHITECTURE 


diaconicon,  which  was  commonly  absorbed  in  a  large  sacristy, 
both  of  the  rooms  were  often  transformed  into  chapels  for  the 
side  altars  which  came  into  use  as  a  consequence  of  the  cult  of 

relics. 

In  external  appearance  the  basilica  stands  in  very  disadvan- 
tageous contrast  to  all  other  types  of  Roman  public  architec- 
ture.    The  building  material  was  almost  invariably  of  brick, 


Fig.  41.  —  S.  Paul's,  Rome,  interior  as  recently  restored. 


and  the  brick  construction  after  the  second  century  of  the 
Empire  was  of  a  very  coarse  character.  Commonly  as  brick 
was  used  by  the  Romans,  it  was  accounted  too  base  a  material 
to  be  exposed  to  view,  and  in  all  buildings  of  any  pretension  it 
was  covered  with  marble,  or  hewn  stone,  or  at  least  with 
plaster  and  paint.  Although  the  Church  followed  this  tradi- 
tion so  far  as  concerned  the  interior  of  the  basilica,  on  the  out- 
side the  bare  brick  wall  was  left  exposed  without  any,  or  with 
the  very  least,  attempt  at  architectural  decoration.     The  justice 


THE   BASILICA      Exterior  129 

of  the  principle,  however,  was  acknowledged  by  the  fact  that 
the  faqade  was  sometimes  decorated,  like  the  interior,  with 
mosaic.  It  has  to  be  remembered  that,  while  the  faqade  was 
freely  visible  from  the  atrium,  the  rest  of  the  basilica  was 
likely  to  be  so  completely  surrounded  by  chapels,  mausoleums, 
hospices,  and  schools  (Fig.  55)  that  the  exterior  finish  of  the 
lower  wall  was  not  of  prime  importance;  and  the  wall  of  the 
clearstory  was  to  some  extent  enlivened  by  its  close  row  of 
windows.  It  was  by  slight  mouldings  around  the  windows  that 
the  first  step  was  made  in  Ravenna  toward  a  decorative  treat- 
ment of  the  brickwork.  In  Ravenna  and  in  the  East  the  apse 
was  generally  faced  with  a  polygonal  wall  (Fig.  33) ;  in  Africa 
the  apse  and  the  adjoining  rooms  were  often  masked  by  a 
straight  wall.  —  for  a  Syrian  example  see  Fig.  61. 

The  best  that  can  be  said  for  the  external  appearance  of  the 
basilica  is  that  it  gave  a  perfectly  frank  and  lucid  idea  of  the 
interior  disposition  of  the  room.  For  the  rest  it  revealed  only 
too  plainly  its  derivation  from  a  private  style  of  architecture. 
The  lavish  expenditure  of  costly  decoration  upon  the  interior 
stands  in  contrast  not  only  to  the  bareness  of  the  exterior,  but 
to  the  exceeding  cheapness  of  the  construction.  In  the  domed 
type  of  architecture  the  walls  had  of  course  to  be  much  thicker, 
the  construction  was  altogether  much  more  costly,  and  even  the 
exterior  could  not  but  have  a  greater  architectural  interest  and 
variety.  It  was  this  type  which  continued  the  traditions  of 
Roman  public  architecture ;  but  the  exterior  followed  the 
example  of  the  basilica,  and  the  bare  brick  walls  had  in  some 
respects  a  worse  effect,  because  they  were  meaningless,  and 
masked  the  interior  disposition  of  the  building. 

This  rudeness  was  not  altogether  due  to  carelessness  about 
the  exterior  effect,  for  there  was  a  distinct  effort  to  make  at 
least  the  approach  to  the  church  —  the  facade,  the  atrium,  and 
its  porch  —  as  attractive  and  imposing  as  possible.  It  was  pre- 
cisely the  facade,  however,  which  proved  the  most  intractable 
feature  of  the  exterior.  From  outside  the  atrium  only  the  low 
gable  and  the  clearstory  wall  were  visible;  from  within,  the 
case  was  not  much  better,  for  the  portico  with  its  close  line  of 
slender  columns  could  in  no  way  be  reconciled  with  the  sheer 
mass  of  the  upper  wall,  unbroken  save  by  a  few  windows.  The 
problem  of  the  facade  was  to  be  solved  only  by  incorporating 


Kin 


ARCHITECTURE 


the  vestibule  or  portico  more  closely  with  the  church,  as  was 
done  with  such  signal  effect  in  Central  Syria. 

Bui  this  brings  us  to  another  story:  these  churches  of  Cen- 
tral Syria  —  most  of  them  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  century  —  stand 
in  the  sharpest  contrast  to  all  other  architecture  of  the  early 
Christian  period.  Looking  at  such  a  facade  as  that  which  is 
represented  in  Fig.  32,  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  it  is  not  at  least 
seven  centuries  later.  In  point  of  fact,  we  are  compelled  to 
believe  that  the  early  Norman  churches  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  great  crusading  ports  of  Southern  France  and  Apulia  were 
directly  inspired  by  these  Syrian  basilicas.  Syria,  it  must  be 
remembered,  was  one  of  the  most  flourishing  centres  of  early 
Christian  life,  and  it  was  not  only  in  close  contact  with  Greek 


(mi 

K0\ 

mi 

53IS 

ill 

StSB 

S£8 

s 

SI 

mm 

v.v.v.n  H 


==.-.-,  .v. v.v 

S<*ft*s 


Fig.  42.  —  Stone  windows. 


and  Koman  civilization,  but  it  inherited  more  fully  than  any 
other  Christian  land  the  traditions  of  Oriental  art.  It  is 
altogether  likely  that  Syrian  architecture  had  a  marked  influ- 
ence upon  all  neighboring  lands  —  except  Palestine,  where  all 
the  great  churches  were  due  to  the  munificence  of  the  Roman 
or  Byzantine  emperors.  At  all  events  its  free  and  strong 
development  of  the  theme  which  was  presented  by  the  basilica 
was  not  surpassed  till  the  advent  of  the  Gothic.  From  a 
decorative  point  of  view  the  interior  of  the  Syrian  basilica 
was  far  less  effective  than  the  more  usual  type  which  we  have 
been  studying ;  it  lacked  the  rich  pictorial  mosaics,  and  relied 
upon  a  strictly  architectural  decoration  of  the  stone  surface. 
From  an  architectural  point  of  vieAv  it  was  incomparably 
stronger  and  more  consistent,  an  advantage  which  was  dis- 
played even  more  conspicuously  on  the  outside  than  within.    It 


THE   CENTRAL    TYPE— In  General  131 

is  quite  beyond  our  scope  to  do  justice  to  the  admirable  char- 
acter of  its  masonry  and  the  detailed  architectural  decoration 
which  did  so  much  to  ennoble  its  appearance ;  it  is  better 
frankly  to  omit  this  theme  than  to  give  the  impression  that  it 
can  be  exhausted  in  a  few  words.  But  one  word  must  be  said 
about  the  fagade,  though  it  be  only  to  direct  attention  to  the 
characteristic  scheme  which  is  exemplified  in  Fig.  32.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  chief  features  are  :  a  free  flight  of  steps  lead- 
ing through  a  broad  arch  into  a  vestibule,  which  is  surmounted 
by  an  open  loggia  and  flanked  by  two  gabled  towers  which 
symmetrically  balance  the  gable  of  the  nave.  The  fundamental 
characteristic  of  this  scheme  consists  in  the  two  towers  which 
mask  the  ends  of  the  aisles  and  balance  the  clearstory  ;  when 
this  was  given,  all  the  rest  was  sufficiently  obvious. 

The  church  tower  introduces  a  problem  which  is  not  alto- 
gether explained.  It  is  not  sure  at  what  date  it  was  first  used 
for  church  bells ;  it  is  probable  that  its  original  purpose  was 
defence.  But  whatever  its  purpose,  it  was  common  from  the 
fifth  century  both  in  the  East  and  West ;  and  always,  till  late 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  it  maintained  its  isolated  position  (Fig.  30). 
It  was  only  in  Syria  that  a  pair  of  towers  was  employed,  and 
only  there  that  they  were  brought  into  organic  relation  with 
the  facade. 

B.     THE    CENTRAL    TYPE 

In  the  endeavor  to  give  a  total  impression  of  the  decorative 
as  well  as  architectural  effect  of  the  basilica  much  has  been 
said  which  applies  equally  well  to  the  Byzantine  domed 
churches.  The  ritual  arrangements  were  the  same  in  both 
cases,  as  were  also  the  principles  of  decoration.  There  is  left 
to  consider  merely  the  structural  conditions  and  architectural 
principles  which  distinguished  the  round,  polygonal,  or  domed 
structures,  of  various  sorts,  whether  churches,  baptisteries,  or 
mausoleums.  Even  upon  this  express  topic  it  has  been  neces- 
sary to  anticipate  incidentally  a  great  deal  which,  having  once 
been  said,  need  not  be  repeated  here. 

By  the  central  type  of  architecture  no  definite  scheme  of  con- 
struction is  indicated,  but  only  the  general  principle  of  symmet- 
rical —  more  strictly  eurythmic  —  arrangement  with  reference 
to  a  central  perpendicular  axis.     This  principle  is  exemplified 


L82  ARCHITECTURE 

as  well  in  the  round  buildings  which  consisted  of  concentric 
colonnades  covered  by  a  conical  roof  |  Fig.  1 1  a,  b,  and  c),  as  in 
those,  whether  polygonal  or  round,  which  were  surmounted 
by  a  dome.  The  dome,  however,  is  the  typical  example  of  this 
principle,  and.  wherever  it  is  employed,  it  exercises  a  strong 
centralizing  effect,  In  the  case  of  the  mausoleum  and  the 
baptistery  the  en  rythmic  symmetry  could  be  strictly  observed, 
but  it  has  already  been  remarked  that,  as  applied  to  the  church, 
it  encountered  an  opposing  principle  in  the  horizontal  axis 
which  was  exacted  by  the  ritual,  and  in  S.  Sophia  at  Constanti- 
nople we  have  what  has  been  called  a  compromise,  though  it  is 
more  properly  a  reconciliation,  with  the  liturgical  plan. 

It  is  evident  that,  in  turning  from  the  study  of  the  basilica 
to  the  central  structure,  we  pass  from  a  definite  and  invariable 
type  to  a  congeries  of  types  which  were  applied  to  divers  uses 
and  were  even  more  various  in  their  character  ;  from  a  building 
which  had  no  history  and  only  a  modicum  of  architecture  we 
pass  to  the  study  of  an  intricate  and  original  development  on 
purely  architectural  lines.  It  is  quite  out  of  the  question  to 
treat  here  the  many  and  important  technical  problems  which 
this  study  suggests ;  for  this  the  student  must  be  referred 
especially  to  Choisy,  Histoire  de  V Architecture,  Tome  II.  The 
earliest  Christian  examples  of  this  class  of  architecture  are  those 
which  "were  constructed  at  Home,  or  by  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tine  under  purely  Roman  influence  at  Jerusalem.  But  the 
development  which  we  have  to  trace  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
Byzantine  Empire,  where  invention  and  progress  were  still 
possible,  owing  not  only  to  favorable  political  conditions  and 
immunity  from  barbarian  attack,  but  also  and  chiefly  to 
the  influence  of  the  architectural  traditions  of  the  Orient.  The 
development  of  Byzantine  architecture  culminated  before  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century  in  the  reign  of  Justinian.  The 
various  stages  of  this  development  are  marked  by  buildings  of 
a  very  high  interest ;  its  culmination  in  S.  Sophia  at  Constan- 
tinople registers  the  highest  limit  attainable  along  these  lines. 
This  building  was  never  imitated,  but  alongside  of  it  the  archi- 
tects of  Justinian  developed  another  type  —  the  church  of  the 
Apostles  at  Constantinople — -which  furnished  the  pattern  for 
subsequent  Byzantine  architecture  (example,  S.  Mark's  at 
Venice).   Justinian  distinguished  his  reign  not  only  by  the  devel- 


THE   CENTRAL    TYPE— In  General  133 

opment  of  a  distinct  type  of  architecture,  but  by  the  great 
number  of  buildings  which  he  erected,  in  Jerusalem,  in  Constan- 
tinople, and  in  many  of  the  greal  cities  of  his  Empire.  In  his 
zeal  and  munificence  as  a  builder  of  churches  he  has  not  been 
equalled  either  before  or  since. 

It  must  suffice  to  state  hen'  in  the  briefest  terms  the  chief 
innovations  which  characterized  the  development  of  Byzantine 
architecture.  It  has  already  been  stated  that  in  Roman  con- 
struction the  vault  and  dome  consisted  of  a  thick  bed  of  concrete 
which  hardened  into  a  monolith,  exerting  no  lateral  thrust,  but 
requiring  a  heavy  wall  for  its  support.  The  technic  of  Byzan- 
tine construction  was  borrowed  from  the  East ;  the  use  of  brick 
made  it  possible  to  construct  both  vault  and  dome  without  the 
cost  of  a  temporary  support  and  with  far  less  expenditure  of  con- 
structive material  and  of  manual  labor.  This  change  of  tech- 
nic had  a  far-reaching  effect  upon  the  architecture.  On  the 
one  hand  the  comparative  lightness  of  the  dome  permitted  its 
support  upon  a  lighter  wall ;  or,  what  amounts  to  the  same 
thing,  the  organic  solution  of  the  wall  into  a  series  of  pillars 
(Fig.  47)  which  were  connected  above  by  arches,  and  gave  free 
prospect  and  passage  into  a  surrounding  room  (Fig.  48).  On 
the  other  hand  the  lateral  thrust  which  was  developed  required 
a  nice  adjustment  of  buttresses  and  balances,  which  —  according 
to  the  traditions  of  ancient  architecture  —  must  be  provided 
within  the  building  and  contribute  to  the  interior  space  ;  that 
is  to  say,  the  thrust  required  the  construction  of  a  room,  or 
rooms,  surrounding  the  central  chamber,  and  the  use  of  free 
pillars  made  possible  ready  communication  between  the  one 
and  the  other. 

The  most  thorough  attainable  continuity  between  the  cen- 
tral and  the  surrounding  rooms  was  provided  by  reducing  the 
number  of  the  supporting  pillars  to  four  (Fig.  52).  This  in- 
troduced a  square  plan  with  which  the  round  base  o'f  the  dome 
corresponded  only  at  four  points,  and  those  the  weakest  for 
support,  namely,  the  centres  of  the  four  arches  which  con- 
nected the  pillars.  This  difficulty  was  solved  by  the  penden- 
tive,  which  was  the  most  characteristic  invention  of  Byzantine 
architecture.  The  pendentive  was  a  construction  which  filled 
out  the  angles  between  the  square  (or  polygonal)  plan  and  the 
circle  of  the  dome :  its  surface  formed  a  spherical  triangle,  one 


134  ARCHITECTURE 

side  corresponding  with  the  first  course  of  the  dome,  the  others 
following  tlic  supporting  arches  and  concentrating  the  thrust 
upon  the  pillars  (Fig-  51).  The  final  development  in  dome 
construction  consisted  in  erecting  above  the  pendentives  a 
cylindrical  wall  (the  drum),  which  allowed  room  for  window 
apertures  without  opening  them  in  the  dome  itself.  It  is  the 
dome  with  a  drum  which  became  the  common  type  in  later 
Byzantine  architecture,  and  which  was  universally  employed 
in  the  Renascence ;  it  contributed,  however,  more  advantage- 
ously to  the  exterior  than  to  the  interior  effect  of  the  building. 

So  much  variety  and  invention  entered  into  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Byzantine  church  that  it  is  difficult  clearly  to  trace 
its  course.  It  is  impossible  to  reduce  this  course  to  a  single 
line  of  development ;  for  it  is  evident  that  there  contributed 
to  its  formation  several  distinct  types  which  were  contempora- 
neously in  use  at  the  very  beginning  of  Christian  architecture ; 
and  it  is  evident,  moreover,  that  even  in  the  final  development 
these  lines  did  not  converge  upon  one  point,  but  continued  to 
reveal  their  several  origins  by  the  constitution  of  three  distinct 
schemes  —  the  polygonal,  the  cross-shaped,  and  the  quadran- 
gular. The  influence  which  contributed  to  the  formation  of  the 
quadrangular  scheme  was  obviously  the  basilica.  As  to  the 
equal-armed  cross,  that  was  an  early  and  usual  plan  for  a 
mausoleum  or  memorial.  The  round  and  polygonal  buildings 
which  date  from  the  earliest  period  of  Christian  architecture 
were  likewise  intended  for  mausoleums  and  memorial  shrines, 
and  also  for  baptisteries.  Throughout  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries  the  employment  of  the  central  type  for  the  church 
proper  —  that  is,  the  congregational  house  of  worship  —  was 
exceedingly  rare ;  it  is  reduced  almost  to  the  vanishing  point 
when  we  exclude  the  buildings  which  were  originally  intended 
for  mausoleums  or  memorials,  and  such  as  were  directly  imi- 
tated from  them. 

Of  the  round  and  polygonal  buildings  we  have  to  distinguish 
two  chief  types  according  as  the  plan  is  simple  or  composite. 
Among  those  of  composite  plan  we  must  distinguish  again, 
with  reference  to  the  mode  of  roofing,  between  the  buildings 
which  consisted  merely  of  concentric  colonnades  surmounted  by 
a  wooden  roof,  and  those  which  were  surmounted  by  a  dome 
(supported  by  pillars  or  columns)  and  a  ring-vault. 


THE   CENTBAL    TYPE— Simple  Plan 


135 


ROUND  OR  POLYGONAL  BUILDINGS 


SIMPLE    PLAN 

The  simplest  case  is  a  cylindrical  wall  surmounted  by  a 
dome  in  the  form  of  a  half-sphere.  The  heavy  dome  construc- 
tion of  the  Romans  required  a  very  thick  supporting  wall, 
which  for  economy  of  building  material,  as  well  as  for  purely 
artistic  considerations,  was  broken  by  a  series  of  niches.  The 
Pantheon  at  Koine  is  the  most  colossal  and  altogether  the 
noblest  exampje  of  this  type ;  the  wall  surface  is  diversified  by 
eight  great  niches  (including  the  door),  alternately  square  and 
semicircular,  with  another  row  of  niches  above;  but  it  becomes 
continuous  again  before  it 
meets  the  dome.  Light  is 
admitted  by  a  great  opaon 
in  the  centre  of  the  dome. 
The  great  magnitude  of 
the  Pantheon  made  possi- 
ble a  special  decorative 
feature  which  consisted  in 
rows  of  columns  in  front 
of  the  niches,  but  the 
application  of  the  general 
scheme  was  obviously 
quite  independent  of  size. 

Rooms  of  this  type  were  constructed  by  the  Romans  as  ad- 
juncts to  palaces,  but  more  commonly  as  bath  rooms  and  mauso- 
leums. The  Christians  employed  them  for  the  same  purposes, 
that  is,  as  mausoleums  and  baptisteries.  This  type  was  mani- 
festly appropriate  to  the  mausoleum,  not  only  on  account  of  its 
shape,  but  on  account  of  its  monumental  solidity.  While  in 
the  construction  of  their  churches  the  Christians  showed  a 
strange  indifference  about  the  solidity  and  endurance  of  the 
buildings,  they  seem  to  have  shared  the  solicitude  of  the 
pagans  for  the  eternal  perpetuation  of  their  tombs.  The  two 
round  buildings  which  formerly  adjoined  S.  Peter's  (Pig.  30) 
were  of  this  type,  adorned  with  eight  square  niches,  and 
they  were  probably  constructed  as  mausoleums.  One  of  them 
was  in  the  eighth  century  dedicated  to  S.  Petronilla;  but  it 


Plans  of  buildings  of  the  central  type. 
Simple  plan. 

a,  Orthodox  baptistery,  Ravenna.     6,.S.  George, 
Thessalonica.     c,  Arian  baptistery,  Ravenna. 


L36  AWiiiTECTURE 

was  originally  the  mausoleum  of  the  family  (»f  Theodosius,  and 
it  is  probable  that  the  other,  dedicated  to  S.  Andrew,  had 
a  like  origin.  Quite  similar  to  these  is  S.  George  in  Thessa- 
Lonica  (Fig.  13,6).  Doubtless  this  too  was  originally  a  mauso- 
leum, either  Christian  or  pagan;  lor  the  presbyterium  seems 
evidently  to  have  been  a  later  addition,  connected  with  the 
building  by  breaking  through  one  of  the  original  niches. 

Though  such  buildings  were  never  constructed  for  use  as 
churches,  they  were  obviously  very  appropriate  as  baptisteries. 
The  baptistery  was  essentially  a  bath  room,  and  it  naturally 
assumed  the  shape  which  was  common  for  public  and  private 
baths  among  the  Romans.  The  pool  or  basin  occupied  the 
centre,  and  there  was  sufficient  room  about  it  to  accommodate 
the  candidates,  with  their  sponsors  and  the  clergy  ;  baptism, 
being  essentially  a  personal  and  private  sacrament,  did  not 
require  the  presence  of  the  congregation.  The  altar  had 
properly  nothing  to  do  with  the  baptistery,  though  in  the  East 
it  was  occasionally  accommodated  in  one  of  the  niches,  or  an 
exedra  was  even  expressly  constructed  for  it.  Among  the 
Romans  the  pool  was  commonly  octagonal,  and  this  became 
the  almost  invariable  tradition  in  the  Church.  S.  Ambrose 
attempted  to  attach  a  symbolical  significance  to  the  octagonal 
form ; l  and  the  fact  that  this  form  has  been  perpetuated  in  the 
mediaeval  (and  modern)  fonts  is  perhaps  to  be  traced  back 
ultimately  to  the  Roman  bath. 

In  the  employment  of  deep  niches  in  the  thick  wall  (a  con- 
stantly recurring  feature  of  Roman  construction)  there  lay  the 
suggestion  of  a  further  development ;  the  niches  had  only  to  be 
opened  clear  through  the  wall,  and  the  central  room  was  at  once 
put  in  communication  with  surrounding  rooms  or  with  a  corridor. 
This  step  was  taken  in  the  construction  of  the  so-called  temple 
of  Minerva  Medica  at  Rome ;  in  this  case  ten  niches  open  upon 
a  circular  corridor.  From  the  imperfection  of  its  construction 
the  building  is  judged  to  be  not  earlier  than  the  end  of  the 
third  century.  Close  as  it  seems  to  stand  to  the  Byzantine 
round  church  (Fig.  47),  the  relation  was  in  fact  not  direct;  the 
line  of  Byzantine  development  passed  through  other  forms 
and  was  influenced  by  other  examples.  Equally  outside  the 
line  of  development  is  the  great  dome  of  the  Baths  of  Cara- 

1  Gruter,  Thesaur.  inscript.,  p.  1166. 


THE   CENTRAL    TYPE— Simple   Plan  137 

calla,  which  was  supported  upon  eight  mighty  piers;  this  ex- 
ample merely  shows  how  natural  was  the  deduction  of  the 
Byzantine  type. 

The  mausoleum  of  Theodoric  at  Ravenna  (  Fig.  53)  is  hardly 
to  be  classed  with  any  other  Christian  monument.  It  seems, 
however,  to  be  a  product  of  Syrian  architecture.  It  contains 
two  rooms,  the  lower  of  which  is  in  the  shape  of  a  cross,  while 
the  upper  is  round.  Externally  it  is  ten-sided,  surrounded  by 
a  platform  which  was  originally  covered,  and  it  is  surmounted 
by  a  colossal  monolith. 

It  must  now  be  noticed  that  there  were,  strictly  speaking, 
no  baptisteries  with  cylindrical  walls  such  as  we  have  been 
considering.  This  type  was  expressly  imitated  in  early  Chris- 
tian baptisteries,  but  under  changed  structural  conditions  which 
modified  the  form  of  the  room.  One  of  the  consequences 
of  the  brick  construction  which  was  employed  in  Christian 
architecture  was  a  comparatively  thin  wall  which  did  not 
admit  of  deep  niches  between  its  two  surfaces.  If  the  tradi- 
tional niche  decoration  was  to  be  retained  in  use,  it  could  be 
accomplished  only  by  the  construction  of  apsidal  additions 
projecting  beyond  the  wall.  That  the  niches  were  to  be  re- 
tained was  practically  assured  by  the  fact  that  they  were  not 
only  the  essential  decorative  feature  of  this  style,  but  served 
at  the  same  time  as  buttresses  to  counteract  the  thrust  which 
was  developed  by  the  dome  under  the  new  type  of  construc- 
tion. Illustration  of  this  is  furnished  by  the  two  baptisteries 
of  Ravenna.  The  plans  (Fig.  43,  a  and  c)  show  how  the  con- 
struction of  four  semicircular  niches,  with  intervening  wall  spaces 
of  equal  width,  transformed  the  interior  into  an  octagon,  while 
the  exterior  in  the  one  case  closely  approached  the  form  of  a 
square,  in  the  other  suggests  the  form  of  a  cross.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  the  construction  of  niches  on  the  remaining  four 
sides  would  have  given  an  unsightly  form  to  the  exterior. 
The  harmony  of  the  interior  was  preserved  by  eight  false 
arches  which  covered  not  only  the  niches,  but  the  intervening 
walls,  and  rested  upon  engaged  columns.  The  octagonal  wall 
was  carried  up  considerably  above  the  summit  of  the  niches 
in  order  to  admit  light  beneath  the  dome.  The  diagonal 
section  of  such  a  building  gives  substantially  the  profile  of  the 
basilica,  the  high  wall  supporting  the  dome  corresponding  to 


138 


Anc'iiiTi-:rrriii-: 


the  clearstory;    while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  also  presages  the 
drum  of  the  developed  Byzantine  style. 

This  already  leads  us  a  step  in  the  direction  of  the  Byzan- 
tiue  round  church.  It  would  only  be  necessary  to  develop  the 
structural  symbolism  which  was  indicated  by  the  false  arches 
and  the  columns  which  decorated  the  interior  — that,  is  to  say, 
to  support  the  dome  upon  real  pillars,  do  away  with  the  wall, 
and  merely  mark  its  place  l.\  rows  of  columns  —  and  we  should 
have  the  central  hall  of  SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus.  A  similar 
plan,  but  with  eight  niches,  would  give  the  central  hall  of 
S.  Vitale  (Fig.  47).  What  is  lacking  here,  however,  is  the  sur- 
rounding room  or  corridor,  which  alone  could  furnish  any  sug- 


Fig.  44.  —  Plans  of  buildings  of 
e,  Church  of  the 


a,  Mosque  of  Omar,  Jerusalem.        b,  S.  Stefano  Rotondo.  Rome. 
Ascension,  Jerusalem. 


gestion  or  any  reason  for  thus  opening  the  niches.  We  have 
therefore  to  consider  the  influence  of  two  other  classes  of 
buildings  which  were  contemporaneous  with  the  very  begin- 
nings of  Christian  architecture,  and  which  served  to  accustom 
the  eye  to  the  perspective  effects  of  concentric  rows  of  pillars 
or  columns.  In  this  connection,  however,  we  are  already 
brought  a  step  nearer  S.  Vitale  by  the  octagonal  church  which 
Constantine  constructed  at  Antioch.  The  account  of  Eusebius 
seems  to  represent  that  it  was  surrounded  by  deep  niches, 
alternately  square  and  semicircular,  which  were  divided  by 
galleries  into  upper  and  lower  stories. 


THE  CENTRAL    TYPE—  CompoaUi    Plan 


139 


COMPOSITE    PLAN 

This  topic  comprises  two  distinct  early  types  of  building, 
In 'sides  the  Byzantine  polygonal  type.  The  fundamental  dis- 
tinction between  the  two  early  types  is  thai  the  first  (Fig.  II. 

a,  b  and  c)  was  roofed  with  wood,  the  second  (Fig.  14,  d,  e  and,/'; 
surmounted  by  dome  and  vault. 

It  cannot  be  claimed  that  the  first  type  had  any  influence 
upon  the  development  of  the  Byzantine  style  beyond  the  merely 
formal  suggestion  which  was  given  by  its  concentric  colonnades. 
In  all  other  respects  it  stands  at  the  farthest  remove  from  the 
Byzantine  style  of  construction,  and  in  the  closest  relation  to 


d  e  f 

the  central  type.     Composite  plan. 

d,  S.  Costanza,  Rome,     e,  Lateran  Baptistery.   /,  S.  George,  Ezra. 


the  basilica.  Its  fundamental  features  were:  a  circular  (or 
polygonal)  wall  enclosing  two  or  more  concentric  colonnades, 
each  of  which  —  like  the  colonnades  of  the  basilica  —  supported 
a  wall  upon  which  rested  the  roof.  The  room  within  the  cen- 
tral colonnade  was  sometimes  completely  or  partially  uncov- 
ered ;  and  in  this  case  the  roof  of  the  surrounding  aisles  had  the 
shape  of  a  truncated  cone.  In  case  the  central  room  was  cov- 
ered, its  walls  were  raised  high  above  the  aisles  (like  a  clearstory) 
for  the  admission  of  windows,  and  surmounted  by  a  conical 
roof.  What  has  been  said  in  reference  to  the  basilica,  about 
technic  of  construction,  about  wall  decoration,  ceiling,  floor, 
columns,  and  arcades,  applies  equally  here.  Certain  general 
similarities  of  scheme  between  this  type  and  the  basilica  will 
also  readily  be  noticed.    But  the  attempt  which  has  been  made 


1 10 


M;<iirri:<  rri;i: 


to  deduce  it  directly  i i< »i n  the  basilica  rests  upon  a  too  fanciful 
comparison.  On  the  other  hand,  it  lias  oot  proved  possible 
to  trace  this  type  to  any  example  of  classical  architecture, 
unless  il  be  the  Marnion  at  Gaza.  It  emerges  for  the  first  time 
in  the  reign  of  Constantine,  and  may  therefore  be  ascribed,  it' 
one  will,  to  the  Christian  period,  though  hardly  to  any  dis- 
t  Lncl  ive  ( !hris1  ian  influence.  It  seems  more  just,  to  say  that  its 
origin  is  explained  by  the  free  inventiveness,  the  almost,  wan- 
ton liberty,  which  characterized  Roman  architecture  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century. 

But  whatever  its  origin,  this  type  of  building  has  a  peculiar 
interest  for  Christian  history,  since  it  was  employed  by  Con- 
stantine in  the  erection  of  the  first  great  shrines  which  marked 
the  holy  places  of  Jerusalem.     These  buildings  have  all  of 


w  m 


Fig.  46.  —  Eurly 

them  perished ;  we  know  them  only  from  the  descriptions  of 
Eusebius  and  of  mediaeval  pilgrims,  and  from  the  imitations  to 
which  churches  of  such  fame  naturally  gave  rise.  The  only 
churches  of  this  sort  which  exist  are  S.  Stefano  Rotondo  at 
Rome  (Fig.  44,  b),  of  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  and 
S.  Angelo  in  Perugia,  a  reduced  copy  of  it  made  about  a  cen- 
tury later  and  now  half  destroyed.  S.  Stefano  has  long  stood 
as  a  riddle  among  the  monuments  of  Roman  architecture. 
Dehio  with  some  plausibility  attributes  its  erection  to  Placidia, 
and  thus  connects  it  with  the  church  which  her  grand- 
mother Eudoxia  built  at  Jerusalem  in  honor  of  the  proto- 
martyr  Stephen  and  as  her  own  mausoleum.  This  history 
brings  it  at  once  into  relation  with  the  memorial  build- 
ings of  Constantinian  foundation ;  it  also  explains  how  this 
type,  which  was  expressly  and  appropriately  designed  for  a 


THE    CENTRAL    TYPE— Composite  Plan 


141 


memorial,  came,  through  the  celebrity  of  Constantino's  exam- 
ple, to  be  copied  for  this  use  not  only,  but  also  for  use  as  a 
house  of  worship,  for  which  it  was  quite  unsuitable.  That  it 
was  not  originally  intended  as  a  substitute  for  the  basilica,  nor 
for  the  ordinary  uses  of  church  worship,  is  clearly  shown  by  the 
fact  that  Constantine  was  not  content  with  the  erection  of  round 
shrines  about  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  upon  the  spot  whence 
our  Lord  ascended,  but  adjoined  to  each  of  them  a  great 
basilica.  The  round  temples  were  doubtless  used  for  private 
devotions  and  for  extraordinary  religious  celebrations,  but  their 
most  definite  purpose  was  that  of  doing  honor  to  a  sacred  spot 
and  protecting  it  from  profanation.  They  had  therefore  practi- 
cally the  same  intention  as  the  Greek  temenos,  and  the  central 
type  was  manifestly  prescribed  by  this  purpose. 

In  the  year  326  Constantine  erected  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre   at  Jerusalem.     The  sepulchre  itself   was  enclosed 


Christian  Capitals. 


within  the  inner  colonnade  of  a  round  church  of  the  general 
type  just  described.  Eusebius  gives  a  detailed  but  far  from 
clear  description  of  it,  though  the  chief  traits  are  tolerably 
well  fixed.  Its  chief  peculiarity  was  that  it  opened  into  a 
huge  five-aisled  basilica.  It  is  supposed  that  the  outer  wall  of 
the  round  building,  after  it  had  completed  something  more 
than  half  a  circle,  met  the  extended  walls  of  the  basilica  and 
left  therefore  .free  communication  between  the  two,  equal  to 
the  whole  width  of  the  basilica.  The  round  building  was  cov- 
ered with  a  wooden  roof  which  left  part  of  the  inner  circle 
open  to  the  sky.  This  shrine  was  most  commonly  called,  not 
the  church  of  the  Sepulchre,  but  the  Anastasis  —  the  Resur- 
rection. It  was  the  round  church  which  properly  constituted 
the  shrine ;  the  basilica  was  added  to  it  to  accommodate  the 
congregation.     The  whole  edifice  was  destroyed   in  the  year 


142  ARCHITECTURE 

614,  by  Chosroes  II.  of  Persia,  and  only  the  round  building 
was  afterward  restored.  Together  with  other  churches  of 
Palestine,  it  was  described,  early  in  the  eighth  century,  by  the 
Scotcli  abbot,  Adainnanus  of  Iona,  who  merely  recounts 
what  he  had  heard  from  the  French  pilgrim  and  bishop,  Arcul- 
phus.  This  building  was  ;i  number  of  times  destroyed  and 
restored,  and  finally  the  crusaders  added  again  to  it  a  rectan- 
gular ehureh.  'The  building  was  conserved  iii  substantially  the 
same  form  till  a  fire  in  the  year  1808.  The  round  church, 
altered  as  it  was  by  Byzantine  reconstructions,  exercised  a  great 
influence  upon  late  mediaeval  architecture. 

The  Constantinian  church  of  the  Ascension  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives  has  likewise  suffered  destruction,  though  Arculphus,  at 
the  end  of  the  seventh  century,  still  saw  it  in  its  original  state. 
It  likewise  had  a  basilica  annexed  to  it,  but  not  in  direct  com- 
munication. Its  central  room  was  likewise  unroofed,  —  and 
with  manifest  propriety,  since  it  marked  the  spot  whence  our 
Lord  had  ascended  into  the  heavens.  Dehio  reconstructs  it  as 
a  round  building  like  S.  Stefano  Rotondo  (Fig.  44,  b  and  c)  ; 
but  he  admits  that  it  may  originally  have  been  octagonal, 
as  was  the  crusaders'  restoration  of  it.  This  receives  further 
support  from  the  fact  that  the  mosque  of  Omar  (Fig.  44,  a)  is 
octagonal,  and  was  probably  imitated  from  it  (cf.  p.  310). 

The  mosque  of  Omar  is  not  only  a  notable  instance  of  this 
style,  but  one  of  the  most  remarkable  monuments  of  all  time. 
It  w^as  erected  in  the  year  638,  upon  Mt.  Moriah,  on  the  site  of 
the  Jewish  Temple.  Although  it  was  founded  by  an  Arabian 
calif,  to  enshrine  the  rock  from  which  Mahomet  started  for  his 
flight  through  the  heavens,  it  has  many  claims  to  consideration 
in  a  study  of  Christian  architecture ;  it  would  deserve  it,  if 
merely  for  the  fact  that  it  was  directly  inspired  by  the  Con- 
stantinian temples,  and  is  the  only  existing  monument  which 
gives  an  adequate  impression  of  the  architectural  possibilities 
of  this  style.  Much  has  been  disputed  about  its  origin.  De 
Vogue's  solution  is  in  all  probability  the  correct  one,  that  it 
is  a  Byzantine  building  constructed  by  Byzantine  architects, 
though  for  a  Mahometan  ruler.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the 
roof  was  originally  open  at  the  centre  —  like  the  church  of  the 
Ascension,  which  in  its  purpose  it  so  closely  resembled,  and 
which  it  may  have  followed  as  closely  in  pattern.     About  the 


THE    CENTRAL    TYPE—  Composite  Plan  143 

year  690,  however,  it  was  provided  with  a  wooden  dome  of  very 
remarkable  construction.  In  decoration  it  is  only  in  the  dome 
that  Arabic  traits  appear,  the  rest  is  purely  Byzantine.  In 
1099  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Christians,  who  founded 
here  the  order  of  Knights  Templars.  Standing  as  it  did  upon 
the  platform  of  the  Temple,  it  was  popularly  believed  to  be 
actually  a  part  of  the  ancient  Temple  of  the  Jews,  and  it  fig- 
ures as  such  in  the  Sposalizio  of  Raphael.  Having  been  copied 
in  the  first  place  from  the  churches  of  Constantine,  it  became 
in  turn  the  pattern  for  the  churches  built  by  the  Templars  in 
Europe. 

We  have  record  of  but  one  other  round  church  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Jerusalem ;  it  was  located  in  the  Valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat,  and  commemorated  the  spot  where  the  Virgin  Mary 
remained  between  her  death  and  her  assumption.  It  is  men- 
tioned as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century. 

Of  the  imitations  which  were  made  in  early  times  of  this 
type  of  memorial  building,  few  have  been  preserved  to  us,  or 
even  recorded.  Beyond  what  has  already  been  said  in  regard 
to  S.  Stefano  Eotondo  (Fig.  44,  l>),  and  S.  Angelo  of  Perugia,  it 
need  only  be  added  that  as  these  buildings  were  intended  to  be 
used  as  houses  of  congregational  worship  they  were  constructed 
with  a  clearstory  and  completely  roofed.  We  learn  from  the 
Life  of  S.  "Willebald1  that  the  church  in  which  the  Council  of 
iSTicasa  was  held  was  similar  to  the  church  of  the  Ascension  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives. 

With  the  second  type  of  round  building,  which  we  come  now 
to  consider,  we  return  again  to  the  cupola  and  vault  construc- 
tion, and  we  approach,  therefore,  more  closely  the  line  of  de- 
velopment of  Byzantine  architecture.  This  type  also  emerges 
with  the  very  beginnings  of  Christian  architecture  under  Con- 
stantine. It  seems,  however,  that  it  is  to  be  referred  directly 
to  more  ancient  models ;  for  though  no  classic  buildings  of  the 
sort  have  been  preserved  (except  probably  the  baptistery  at 
Aix),  the  antiquarians  of  the  Renascence  saw  and  described 
similar  temples  in  the  neighborhood  of  Rome.  Constantine 
erected  two  such  monuments  at  Rome  (Fig.  44,  d  and  e)  :  one  (S. 
Costanza),  the  mausoleum  of  his  sister  Constantia;  the  other, 
the  baptistery  of  the  Lateran.     The  scheme  of  both  is  essen- 

lActa  SS.  0.  S.  B.,  saec.  3,  P.  II.,  p.  379. 


144 


ARCHITECTURE 


fcially  the  same,  a  central  room  formed  by  a  circular  or  polyg- 
onal colonnade  which  supports  a  dome,  and  a  surrounding 
corridor  covered  li\  a  vault  which  selves  as  a  buttress.  The 
cupola  of  S.  Costanza  is  supported  by  a  circular  colonnade 
composed  of  twelve  pairs  of  columns;  within  this  circle  stood 
the  huge  sarcophagus  of  porphyry  which  is  now  in  the  Vatican 
Gallery.  Both  the  cupola  and  the  surrounding  ring-vault  were 
originally  covered  with  mosaics  (Figs.  1LV>,  1L'<>),  but  only  those 
of  the  vault  have  been  preserved.  The  thick  outer  wall  is 
enlivened  within  by  niches,  and  without  it  was  originally  sur- 
rounded by  an  open  colonnade.  The  baptistery  is  smaller  and 
its  construction  lighter;  both  the  colonnade  and  the  external 
wall  are  octagonal,  —  the  character  of  the  cupola  was  altered 
in  later  times.  This  early  building  be- 
came the  normal  type  for  Christian  bap- 
tisteries, and  it  remained  so  as  long  as  a 
separate  building  was  required  for  this 
use.  It  was  obviously  more  appropriate 
to  its  purpose  than  was  the  round  build- 
ing of  simple  plan,  for 
it  not  only  provided  a 
larger  room,  but  archi- 
tecturally separated  the 
font  from  the  assembly 
room. 

These  early  buildings 
are  obviously  the  direct  prototype  of  a  considerable  class  of 
round  churches;  for  example,  S.  George  at  Ezra  in  Syria 
(Figs.  44  /,  46),  built  in  512,  and  the  similar  and  contemporary 
church  at  Bosra.  In  the  case  of  these  Syrian  churches  the 
exigencies  of  stone  construction  account  for  the  almost  pointed 
profile  of  the  dome.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  typical 
Byzantine  scheme  (S.  Vitale)  was  also  strongly  influenced  by 
this  example,  although  one  of  its  features  —  the  semicircular 
recesses  and  storied  galleries  —  is  to  be  referred  more  ex- 
pressly to  the  development  of  the  niche  decoration  which 
we  have  already  studied  as  a  characteristic  of  the  round  build- 
ing of  simple  plan. 

It  is  certain  at  all  events  that  we  have  now  before  us  all  of 
the  antique  monuments  which  could  have  contributed  to  the 


Fig.  46.  — S.  George,  Ezra,  Syria. 


THE   CENTRAL    TYPE—  Composite  Flan 


145 


development  of  S.  Vitale,  —  under  the  influence,  it  is  always 
necessary  to  remember,  of  distinctive   Byzantine  principh 
construction. 

S.  Vitale  in  Ravenna  was  erected  during  the  reign  of  .Jus- 
tinian (begun  in  526  and  completed  in  547).  It  would  lead  us 
too  far  to  give  a  description  of  the  building,  beyond  the  Eew 
words  which  are  necessary  to  render  intelligible  the  plan  and 
the  interior  view  which  are  given  in  Figs.  47  and  48.  The 
eight  great  pillars  of  the  central  room  support  an  octagonal 
drum  which  is  surmounted  by  the  dome.  The  construction  of 
the  dome  is  peculiar  :  its  core  consists  of  terra-cotta  pipes,  fitted 


a  ■  b 

Fig.  47.  —  a,  S.  Vitale,  Ravenna,    b,  SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus,  Constantinople. 

the  one  into  the  other,  and  extended  spirally  from  the  bottom 
to  the  top,  —  a  construction  which  diminishes  not  only  the 
weight  but  the  thrust.  The  arched  window  openings  in  the 
drum  serve  to  concentrate  the  weight  upon  the  pillars,  which 
are  supported  by  buttresses  extending  beyond  the  surrounding 
corridor.  The  corridor  is  divided  into  an  upper  and  a  lower 
gallery  (both  of  them  vaulted),  and  the  buttresses  are  pierced 
above  and  below  by  arches  to  permit  free  passage  around  the 
galleries.  Seven  niches  surmounted  by  a  half-dome  intersect 
both  the  upper  and  the  lower  galleries ;  ^but  as  the  walls  of  the 
niches  are  replaced  by  columns  they  permit  free  prospect  from 
the  galleries  into  the  central  room.  Finally,  the  presbyterium 
and  apse  breaks  the  symmetry  and  completely  interrupts  the 


14G 


ARCHITECTURE 


galleries,  extending  with  its  adjoining  rooms  beyond  the  oc- 
tagonal  perimeter.  The  scheme,  which  is  carefully  and  conse- 
quently thoughl  out,  is  elaborate  without  being  complicated; 
the  constructive  purpose  of  the  several  parts  is  obvious,  and 
the  effed  is  therefore  restful  and  harmonious. 

KsM'iiiially  the  same  constructive  scheme  is  repeated  in  SS. 
Sergius  and  Bacchus  at  Constantinople  (Fig.  47),  which  was 

built  about  the 
same  time.  A 
very  different 
effect  is  pro- 
duced, however, 
by  a  change  in 
a  feature  which 
is  almost  purely 
decorative,  name- 
ly, in  the  niches. 
The  niche  oppo- 
site the  apse  and 
the  central  niche 
on  either  side  of 
this  line  were 
suppressed  by 
simply  carrying 
the  row  of  col- 
umns straight 
across  from  pillar 
to  pillar,  with  the 
consequence  of 
giving    the  room 

Fig.  43.  —  Interior  of  S.  Vitale,  Ravenna.     Sixth  century.  a     distinct     longi- 

tudinal direction, 
and  of  permitting  the  inclusion  of  the  whole  room  within  a 
quadrangular  wall.  This  shows  the  strong  tendency  in  the 
Byzantine  architecture  of  that  time  to  accommodate  the  dome 
to  the  longitudinal  room  which  was  required  by  the  ritual. 
S.  Vitale,  however,  represents  the  consummation  of  the  round 
type  of  church;  and  before  we  follow  the  Byzantine  develop- 
ment upon  other  lines  it  is  necessary  to  return  again  to  the 
earliest  period  of  Christian  architecture  and  trace  the  influence 
of  the  cross-shaped  plan. 


THE  CENTRAL    TYPE— Cross-shaped  Flan  147 

THE   DOME   ON   A   SQUARE   BASE 
CROSS-SB  A  PBD  PLAN 

Like  the  so-called  transept  of  the  basilica,  the  earliest  exam- 
ples in  Christian  architecture  of  a  cross-shaped  plan  are  to  be 
referred  to  pagan  prototypes,  though  in  both  cases  the  Chris- 
tian symbolism  furnished  the  suggestion  which  led  to  further 
development.  Cross-shaped  chambers  were  sufficiently  com- 
mon in  Roman  architecture ;  in  the  early  Christian  period  they 
were  commonly  used  as  mausoleums  or  memorial  chapels. 
There  were  two  such  rooms  connected  with  the  Lateran  bap- 
tistery (one  visible  in  Fig.  44  e)  and  a  considerable  number 
among  the  chapels  which  lined  the  sides  of  S.  Peter's  (Fig.  29). 
The  type,  however,  which  is  most  characteristic  of  Christian 
architecture  consists  in  an  oblong  room  terminating  in  a  group 
of  three  apses  united  by  a  small  dome.  This  was  the  usual 
type  for  the  memorial  chapels  which  were  erected  above  the 
cemeteries.  Two  examples  are  preserved  above  the  catacombs 
of  Callistus,  and  one  is  attached  to  the  small  basilica  of 
S.  Sinforosa  (Fig.  28,  c).  This  so-called  apsis  trichora  was 
employed  by  Paulinus  for  the  presbyterium  of  the  basilica 
which  he  built  at  Xola,  in  honor  of  S.  Felix.  This  use,  how- 
ever, was  exceptional,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  say  what  influ- 
ence this  traditional  form  may  have  had  in  stimulating  the 
development  of  a  more  distinctly  marked  cross  plan. 

There  is  at  all  events  no  doubt  that  this  development  was 
due  chiefly  to  the  symbolical  interest  of  the  form,  and  that  it 
received  a  marked  impulse  from  the  discovery  and  veneration 
of  the  wood  of  the  cross.  In  the  case  of  large  buildings,  the 
application  of  a  distinctly  cross-shaped  plan  was  practically  so 
inconvenient  that  it  could  be  due  only  to  a  symbolic  motive. 
This  scheme  —  two  long  and  narrow  halls  intersecting  one 
another  at  right  angles  —  was  of  all  central  plans  the  most 
unsuitable  to  the  Christian  ritual ;  and  such  churches  were,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  designed  expressly  as  mausoleums  or  me- 
morice.  One  of  the  greatest  examples,  and  the  best  preserved, 
is  the  shrine  (Kalat-Semari),  which  was  erected  around  the  col- 
umn of  S.  Simon  Stylites  in  Central  Syria.  It  must  have 
been  built  soon  after  450.     As  may  be   seen   from   the   plan 


148 


ARCHITECTURE 


(Fig.  63),  it  consists  of  four  great  basilicas  grouped  in  the 
shape  of  a  cross  around  a  central  court,  in  the  midst  of  which 
stands  the  column.  The  central  court  was  uncovered,  and 
there  was.  therefore,  no  attempt  at  bringing  the  four  separate 
halls  into  a  relation  of  close  unity. 

.Most,  if  not  all,  the  other  churches  of  this  type  must,  how- 
ever, have  been  covered  with  a  roof  or  dome  at  the  intersec- 
tion.    Beyond  the  fact  that  it   had   the   form  of   the    Greek 


Fig.  49.  —  Exterior. 


Tbe  mausoleum  of  Galla 


cross,  nothing  very  clear  is  known  about  the  church  of  the 
Apostles,  which  Constantine  built  at  Constantinople  as  a  mau- 
soleum for  himself  and  his  family.  It  is  probable  that  S. 
Ambrose  took  this  as  the  model  for  the  church  which  he  built 
in  Milan  in  382  (originally  dedicated  to  the  Apostles,  after- 
ward to  S.  Nazarius) ;  and  if  so,  it  is  only  another  instance 
of  the  influence  which  famous  memorial  churches  had  upon 
the  congregational  church,  in  spite  of  their  unsuitableness  for 
this  use.  S.  Nazario  Grande  at  Milan  was  entirely  rebuilt  in 
the  eleventh  century,  though  it  retains,  with  modifications,  the 
cross  form.     S.  Nazario  e  Celso  at  Ravenna,  the  mausoleum 


THE   CENTRAL   TYPE —  Cross-shaped  Flan  149 

of  Galla  Placidia  (Figs.  49,  50),  though  of  much  smaller  di- 
mensions, is  of  the  same  type  as  the  great  church  of  8. 
Ambrose.  The  four  vaulted  arms  are  connected  at  the  renin- 
by  a  dome.  The  construction  is  poor,  but  the  mosaic  decora- 
tion is  of  the  richest.  This  chapel  originally  stood  in  connec- 
tion with  a  greater  church  —  likewise  cross-shaped  —  which 
was  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Cross.  S.  Arculphus  gives  a  plan 
of   a  cross-shaped    church    surrounding    the   well   of   Jacob  in 


Fig.  50.  —  Interior. 
Placidia,  Ravenna.     Fifth  century. 

Samaria.  Finally,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  there  are  several 
baptisteries  of  this  shape. 

The  Greek  cross  as  it  appears  in  Byzantine  architecture 
takes  a  very  different  form  :  it  is  much  less  accentuated  —  that 
is,  the  four  arms  have  less  longitudinal  extension  in  propor- 
tion to  their  breadth  —  and  the  angles  which  remain  are  par- 
tially or  altogether  absorbed  by  massively  constructed  rooms 
which  serve  as  buttresses  to  the  four  central  pillars.  "Within 
and  without,  the  building  was  thus  compacted  into  the  unity 
of  a  single  hall. 

Different  as  this  scheme  is,  it  was  not  only  potently  influ- 


150  ARCHITECTURE 

enced,  but  essentially  conditioned,  by  the  less  organic  type 
which  has  been  described  above.  A^n  ostensible  proof  of  this 
influence  lies  in  the  fad  that  Justinian,  in  rebuilding  the  Con- 
stantinian  church  of  the  A.postles,  in  Byzantine  style,  adhered 
to  t  he  form  of  the  cross  plan.1 

l>nt  before  considering  the  forms  which  the  Byzantine 
developmenl  actually  took,  it  is  necessary  to  note  the  elements 
winch  the  cross  form  of  itself  essentially  contributed  to  the 
solution  of  the  problem  presented  by  the  use  of  the  dome  as 
the  prominent  feature  of  church  architecture,  —  that  is,  the 
problem  of  harmonizing  the  vertical  axis  emphasized  by  the 
dome,  with  the  horizontal  axis  required  by  the  ritual. 

To  show  how  strongly  this  necessity  was  felt,  one  need  only 
refer  to  the  church  of  Irene  at  Constantinople,  which  reveals 
an  exclusive' preoccupation  with  the  longitudinal  direction: 
the  side  rooms  are  reduced  to  the  width  which  was  absolutely 
required  by  the  buttressing  system ;  the  middle  room  is  roofed 
by  two  domes,  two  broad  vaults,  and  the  half-dome  of  the  apse, 
—  with  a  result  which  is  highly  unsatisfactory,  since  the  cen- 
tral disposition  is  completely  lost,  the  vertical  axes  of  the  two 
domes  are  entirely  ignored,  and  yet  the  longitudinal  direction 
which  is  strongly  marked  in  the  plan  encounters  an  obstacle 
in  the  ceiling. 

The  use  of  the  cross  form  immediately  introduced  a  factor 
which  was  of  great  advantage  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
ritual,  namely,  a  square  central  room.  The  square  room  was 
practically  attained  in  SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus  as  a  develop- 
ment from  S.  Vitale.  But  the  cross  form,  by  reducing  the 
supports  of  the  dome  to  four  pillars,  opened  the  central  room 
to  the  freest  communication  on  four  sides;  and  the  four  arms 
of  the  cross  which  were  thus  brought  into  the  strictest  unity 
with  the  dome  balanced  the  importance  of  its  vertical  axis 
by  two  strongly  marked  horizontal  axes  which  were  in  perfect 
harmony  with  it.  That  is  to  say,  the  eurythmic  symmetry  de- 
manded by  the  central  disposition  was  maintained,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  horizontal  direction  required  by  the  ritual  was 
clearly  indicated.  It  may  be  said  that  this  solution  provided 
too  much,  since  the  transverse  axis  was  not  only  not  required 
by  the  ritual,  but  was  in  some   measure  discordant  wTith  it. 

1  Procopius  :  de  lediflc.  Just.  I.  4. 


THE   CENTRAL    TYPE      Cross-shaped  Flan  151 

But  the  evil  had  to  be  accepted  with  the  good,  and  although 
a  compromise  was  possible  by  way  of  accentuating  the  impor- 
tance of  the  longitudinal  nave,  the  Byzantine  architects  kept 
this  well  within  bounds,  and  rarely  gave  to  the  nave  a  length 
which  was  in  marked  disproportion  to  the  transept. 

The  church  of  the  Apostles  which  Justinian  built  to  replace 
the  earlier  edifice  of  Constantine  has  disappeared  like  its  prede- 
cessor. Procopius  informs  us  that  the  longitudinal  nave  was 
greater  than  the  two  arms, "  as  the  pattern  of  the  cross  required." 
He  also  informs  us  that  the  altar  room  and  presbyterium  were 
located  at  the  intersection  of  the  cross ;  and  this  is  the  only  case 
in  which  we  have  any  hint  of  such  an  adaptation  of  the  ritual 
to  the  obvious  requirement  of  the  centralized  plan.  The  long 
description  which  Procopius  gives  fails  to  furnish  all  the  data 
we  need  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  church ;  but  Choisy  is 
confident  that  we  have  close  copies  of  it  in  two  famous  churches 
of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  respectively,  —  S.  Mark's 
at  Venice  and  S.  Front  at  Perigueux.  Whether  or  not  it  may 
be  referred  to  the  age  of  Justinian,  this  type  deserves  notice 
as  one  of  the  most  successful  creations  of  Byzantine  architec- 
ture. Its  main  characteristics  can  be  briefly  described.  It 
is  a  system  of  five  equal  domes.  The  cross  plan  is  strictly 
adhered  to,  but  not  accentuated.  The  building  is  distributed 
by  heavy  piers  into  five  square  rooms  of  equal  dimensions,  one 
in  the  centre  and  four  constituting  the  arms  of  the  cross.  Each 
is  surmounted  by  a  dome,  and  there  are  thus  three  domes  on 
each  axis,  preserving  the  symmetry  and  marking  clearly  the  cen- 
tral disposition.  The  longitudinal  nave  is  accentuated  chiefly 
by  the  addition  of  the  apse  and  the  narthex.  It  may  be  pre- 
sumed that  in  the  church  of  Justinian  there  were  galleries ; 
and  though  galleries  were  not  used  in  the  West,  S.  Mark's  has 
retained  in  their  place,  as  a  purely  traditional  and  decorative 
feature,  a  narrow  passageway  supported  by  colonnades.  The 
galleries  were  entirely  dropped  in  S.  Front,  which  was  copied 
directly,  not  from  the  church  of  Justinian,  but  from  S.  Mark's. 

The  system  of  five  domes  was  applicable  only  to  very  great 
churches.  As  most  of  the  Byzantine  churches  of  the  Middle 
Ages  were  of  exceedingly  minute  dimensions,  they  adopted  a 
plan  which  was  evidently  derived  from  this,  though  it  has  only 
one  dome.     It  is  the  type  which  is  represented  by  the  great 


152  .1/.''  HITECTURE 

majority  of  Oriental  churches  throughout  the  Middle  Ages. 
It  was  constituted  bj  merely  dispensing  with  so  much  of  the 
cross  arms  as  was  covered  l>y  the  four  domes.  This  reduced 
all  four  arms  to  about  the  dimensions  of  the  vaults  which  had 
separated  the  domes  one  from  the  other.  By  this  change  the 
breadth  of  the  arms  was  made  to  exceed  their  length,  and  they 
were  distinctly  subordinated  to  the  greater  central  room.  The 
four  piers  of  the  dome,  though  they  had  a  diminished  weight 
to  support,  retained  their  previous  dimensions,  and  completely 
filled  out  the  small  angular  spaces  of  the  cross  plan,  so  that 
the  plan  externally  became  rectangular.  Even  in  the  original 
construction,  the  pillars  had  each  been  separated  into  four 
shafts,  and  now,  with  a  lighter  weight  to  support,  the  shaft 
facing  the  central  room  was  often  replaced  by  a  column,  by 
which  means  four  small  corner  rooms  were  practically  added 
to  the  hall,  —  or,  what  was  of  more  importance,  the  short  cross 
arms  were  put  into  closer  relation  with  the  nave  and  altar 
room.  These  four  rooms  were  covered  with  spherical  vaults, 
which  were  later  (in  the  tenth  century)  developed  into  as 
many  cupolas,  one  at  each  angle  of  the  building.  It  became 
the  fashion  also  to  crown  the  narthex  with  three  cupolas.  It 
is  this  feature,  namely  the  great  number  of  cupolas,  which 
gives  to  late  Byzantine  churches  the  external  effect  with  which 
all  are  familiar.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  longitudinal 
direction  was  generally  emphasized  by  the  extension  of  the 
presbyterium  ;  this,  however,  was  flanked  by  the  two  sacristies, 
so  that  all  but  the  apse  was  included  in  the  rectangular  plan. 
The  nave  also  was  often  emphasized,  at  the  expense  of  the 
cross  plan  and  of  fundamental  principles  of  symmetry,  by 
rows  of  columns  which  separated  it  from  the  arms.  This  was 
the  only  motive  borrowed  from  S.  Sophia,  and  it  was  adopted 
with  but  little  propriety.  But  this  has  already  led  us  far  be- 
yond the  limits  of  our  period.  It  is  a  digression  which  proved 
especially  tempting,  because,  upon  the  basis  of  the  sixth-cen- 
tury development,  it  was  possible  in  so  few  words  to  describe 
a  type  of  architecture  which  has  characterized  so  long  a  period 
of  history,  and  characterizes  to-day  most  of  the  churches  of 
the  East. 


THE  CENTRAL    TYPE—  Oblong  Plan  153 

OBLONG    PLAN 

Hagia  Sophia,  "  the  Holy  Wisdom,"  was  built  by  Justinian 
in  537,  upon  the  site  of  an  ancient  church  of  the  same  name 
which  probably  dated  back  to  the  time  of  Oonstantine.  The 
names  of  the  architects,  Anthemius  of  Tralles  and  Isidor  of 
Miletus,  deserve  to  be  remembered.  SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus 
(Fig.  47)  is  usually  taken  to  be  the  immediate  prototype,  or 
rather  the  next  preceding  step  in  the  development.  One  can 
certainly  note  here  a  resemblance  which  is  far  closer  than  can 
be  accounted  for  merely  by  the  common  principles  of  Byzan- 
tine construction.  The  resemblance  is  specially  marked  in  the 
main  room  by  the  use  of  semicircular  niches  in  combination 
with  the  straight  colonnades  of  the  side  walls  (Figs.  51,  52).  The 
room  under  the  dome  may  be  said  to  be  merely  an  elongation 
of  the  central  room  of  SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus :  that  is  approx- 
imately a  square,  this  an  oblong  rectangle  twice  as  long  as  it 
is  broad.  It  becomes  clear  how  essential  this  difference  is 
when  we  observe  that  in  S.  Sophia  the  main  room  has  ceased 
to  be  a  central  room  surrounded  by  a  corridor,  and  become  in- 
stead a  middle  nave  flanked  by  two  aisles.  In  both  cases  the 
room  was  surrounded  by  eight  piers ;  but  in  S.  Sophia  the 
dome  itself  was  supported  by  only  four  of  them.  This  tetra- 
style  arrangement  permitted  a  resort  to  the  cross  plan ;  and  in 
fact  the  buttressing  system  provided  on  either  side  of  the 
dome  the  rooms  which  might  serve  as  the  arms.  This  solution, 
however,  was  entirely  ignored,  and  the  side  arms  were  archi- 
tecturally shut  off  from  the  nave  by  a  two-storied  colonnade  on 
each  side.  With  this  the  central  disposition  and  all  effort 
after  eurythrnic  symmetry  were  completely  given  up,  notwith- 
standing that  the  plan  of  the  building,  exclusive  of  the  narthex, 
was  almost  exactly  square. 

Dehio  compares  S.  Sophia  with  the  basilica  of  Maxentius, 
which  represents  the  type  of  vaulted  construction  commonly 
used  in  the  great  Roman  baths  and  in  this  instance  applied  to 
the  civil  basilica.  The  comparison  of  the  plans  (Fig.  52)  is 
indeed  sufficient  to  prove  that,  however  important  were  the 
elements  derived  from  contemporary  Byzantine  construction,  the 
express  aim  of  the  architects  was  to  adapt  the  essential  fea- 
ture  of   Byzantine  architecture  —  the    dome  —  to  the   funda- 


ir,4 


Ai;i  II I  TEC  TURK 


mental  scheme  of  the  basilica.  That  the  model  which  the 
architects  had  in  mind  was  expressly  the  Christian  basilica  is 
shown  also  by  the  square  atrium  id  fronl  of  the  church.  It 
has  already  been  said  thai  the  atrium  w;is  rarely  used  in  tin' 
l-];ist .  ;mil  never  in  connection  with  the  central  type.  This 
combination  of  the  two  current  types  <>f  church  architecture 
resulted  in  u  type  which  differed  equally  from  both;  and  it- 
was  accomplished  by  a  device  so  thoroughly  original  that  it 


Fig.  51.  —  Interior  of  S.  Sophia,  Constantinople.     Sixth  century. 


becomes  superfluous  to  trace  more  minutely  its  relations  with 
other  types  and  earlier  monuments. 

With  S.  Sophia  we  are,  strictly  speaking,  dealing  no  longer 
with  the  central  type  of  architecture,  though  it  is  obvious  why 
the  subject  must  be  treated  under  this  head.  In  thus  employ- 
ing the  dome  to  roof  a  hall  of  distinctly  oblong  proportions,  its 
centralizing  influence  was  not  ignored,  —  it  was  modified.  It 
was  modified  by  the  one  device  which  is  conceivably  applicable 
to  the  case  :  by  supplementing  the  dome  with  two  half-domes  of 
equal  aperture  at  each  end  of  the  room.     The  two  half-domes 


THE   CENTRAL    TYPE— Oblong  Plan 


1 55 


were  in  a  measure  merged  with  the  central  dome  by  the  spheri- 
cal surfaces  of  the  pendentives,  and  the  effect  of  the  whole 
ceiling  was  practically  that  of  a  long  elliptical  dome  :  that  is  to 
say,  it  no  longer  demanded  an  eurythmic  symmetry;  it  de- 
manded, on  the  contrary,  a  predominant  emphasis  upon  the 
horizontal  axis  which  corresponded  with  the  dimensions  of  the 
room  and  comported  with  the  ritual.  The  combination  of  these 
various  spherical  surfaces  in  the  ceiling  required,  however,  a 
corresponding  variety  in  the  plan  of  the  room,  and  this  was 
furnished  by  the  four  niches  and  the  apse.     It  is  evident  that 


Fig.  52.  —  Plans  of  S.  Sophia  and  of  the  basilica  of  Maxentius 


a  perfectly  regular  plan,  either  rectangular  or  elliptical,  would 
not  have  harmonized  so  well  with  the  ceiling. 

The  consistent  execution  of  the  programme  required  that  the 
dome  should  rest  immediately  upon  the  pendentives  without 
the  intervention  of  a  drum,  and  that  it  should  be  constructed 
as  flat  as  possible ;  it  proved  in  fact  too  flat  for  stability. 
The  buttressing  system  was  very  elaborately  thought  out,  and 
with  one  exception  it  was  thoroughly  adequate.  The  half- 
domes  Ave  re  each  supported  by  four  piers,  two  of  which  they 
shared  in  common  with  the  dome.  They  were  amply  buttressed 
at  one  end  by  two  niches  and  the  apse ;  at  the  other  by  the 
corresponding   pair    of    niches    and    a    double   narthex.      The 


15G  ARCHITECTURE 

half-domes  in  their  turn  constituted  a  most  effectual  support 
upon  two  sides  of  the  dome.  The  peudentives  transmitted  the 
WeigKi  and  part  of  the  thrust  of  the  dome  to  four  mighty  piers 
which  received  the  support  of  lateral  buttresses  of  the  full 
width  of  the  aisle.  The  one  weakness  lay  in  the  fact  that  a 
part  of  the  lateral  thrust  of  the  dome  had  to  be  sustained  by 
the  greal  arches  which  supported  it  on  either  side,  and  they 
could  oppose  to  it  no  resistance  except  such  as  was  due  to  the 
comparatively  slight  thickness  (five  yards)  which  comported 
with  their  character.  Twenty-two  years  after  its  building,  a 
part  of  the  dome  fell  during  an  earthquake.  The  dome  was 
then  immediately  repaired,  and  from  that  time  on  the  church 
has  undergone  frequent  restorations,  which,  while  leaving  the 
nave  substantially  unchanged,  have  nearly  transformed  the 
exterior.  The  necessities  of  the  case  required  a  breach  of 
one  of  the  principles  of  Byzantine  architecture,  the  erection  of 
four  huge  external  contreforts  which  rose  high  above  the  aisles, 
and  were  applied  directly  to  the  lateral  support  of  the  great 
arches. 

The  construction  of  S.  Sophia  was  not  only  original,  but 
bold.  It  was  the  first  time  so  great  a  dome  had  been  erected 
upon  four  piers ;  and  the  chief  structural  peculiarities  of  the 
building  were  not  only  without  example  in  the  past,  but  have 
remained  without  imitation  since.  Notwithstanding  the  resto- 
rations which  it  required,  the  fact  that  the  building  has  en- 
dured for  more  than  thirteen  centuries  is  proof  that  the  work 
was  feasibly  and  strongly  conceived.  It  was  undoubtedly  the 
culminating  triumph  of  the  Classical  age  of  Byzantine  archi- 
tecture, though  other  types,  the  by-products  of  the  same  age, 
were  found  more  available  as  patterns  for  a  later  time  and  for 
a  decaying  empire. 

Originally,  the  decoration  and  furnishings  of  S.  Sophia  were 
the  most  splendid  that  have  ever  been  lavished  upon  a  Chris- 
tian church,  and  the  effect  of  the  building  doubtless  justified 
the  enthusiasm  of  its  panegyrists.  The  golden  altar,  the  pres- 
bytery, and  the  choir  are  now  replaced  by  the  inferior  glories 
of  the  Moslem  mosque ;  even  the  mosaics,  so  far  as  they  repre- 
sented distinctively  Christian  subjects,  have  been  for  the  most 
part  either  destroyed  or  covered  up.  What  remains,  however, 
suffices  for  the  imagination;  and  this  is  fortunately  a  type  of 


THE   CENTRAL    TYPE— Oblong  Plan 


157 


building   which   does   not,  like   the   basilica,    depend    for   its 
effect  chiefly  upon  its  decoration. 

Upon  entering  the  building,  the  sombre  light  of  the  double 
vestibule  serves  to  enhance  the  luminous  splendors  of  the  vast 
nave.  Thanks  to  the  disposition  of  the  half-dome  which 
spreads  upward  from  above  the  entrance,  the  eye  discovers  at 
once  the  great  cupola  in  its  whole  extent.  At  the  same  time 
the  entire  system   of  the  vaults    of   the   nave  —  the  various 


Fig.  53.  — Mausoleum  of  Theodoric,  Ravenna.     Sixth  century. 


spherical  surfaces  so  apt  for  mosaic  decoration  —  is  frankly 
exposed  to  view.  In  the  prospect  of  the  nave  the  double 
colonnades  on  either  side  serve  to  give  something  of  the 
appearance  and  effect  of  the  basilica.  The  numerous  details 
fall  naturally  into  three  great  divisions  which  are  framed  by 
the  arches  above.  For  all  the  elaboration,  the  governing  lines 
produce  an  impression  of  simplicity,  and  the  details  are  re- 
quired to  enhance  one's  appreciation  of  the  vast  size.  The 
great  dome  has  an  aperture  of  nearly  one  hundred  feet,  the 
dimension  of  the  half-domes  and  arches  is  the  same ;  yet 
without  the   lateral   colonnades   nothing  would   indicate   the 


158  M;<iuri:<  tvue 

extraordinary   sweep  <>f   the   arches   above    them;    they  are 

needed  to  give  the  scale  and  l<>  spare  S.  Sophia  the  question- 
able praise  which  has  been  given  S.  I 'el  er's,  —  that  there  is 
nothing  to  intimate  t  hat   it   is  huge. 

The  illumination  is  unusually  generous;  windows  are  pierced 
freely,  not  only  in  the  high  side  wads,  but  in  tin;  half-domes, 
in  the  apse,  and  in  the  niches,  while  the  crown  of  windows 
which  illuminates  the  whole  circumference  of  the  dome  seems 
to  isolate  it,  as  though  it  were  suspended  in  the  air.  The 
four  pillars  which  support  the  pendentives  are  hid  behind  the 
lateral  galleries ;  one  sees  no  more  of  them  than  the  angle,  but 
that  suffices  to  reveal  the  presence  of  the  mass  of  the  buttress 
and  to  assure  the  eye.  The  work  astonishes,  yet  at  the  first 
glance  it  explains  itself.  Never  has  stability  and  daring,  the 
eclat  of  color  and  purity  of  lines,  never  has  the  genius  of  Rome 
and  that  of  the  Orient,  been  associated  in  a  more  astonishing 
and  a  more  harmonious  whole. 

The  preceding  paragraph  follows  the  language  of  Choisy 
almost  closely  enough  to  deserve  inverted  commas.  I  will 
here  quote  from  him  still  more  closely  a  sentence  which 
applies  to  Byzantine  architecture  in  general.  After  speaking 
of  the  simple  geometrical  relations  which  are  to  be  traced  in 
the  monuments  of  this  art,  he  adds l :  "It  is  not  only  the  feel- 
ing of  unity  which  one  experiences  at  the  view  of  a  Byzantine 
interior,  but  also  a  sort  of  tranquillity  and  calm  which  is 
nothing  else  than  the  full  satisfaction  of  the  mind  before  a 
work  where  all  the  combinations  of  equilibrium  are  clearly 
apparent.  The  buildings  of  our  Gothic  architecture  awaken  a 
sort  of  inquietude  and  uneasiness  which  is  due  above  all  to  the 
fact  that  the  buttressing  organs  are  projected  outside;  from 
within  one  does  not  at  first  view  take  account  of  the  equilib- 
rium. Quite  different  is  the  effect  of  the  Byzantine  construc- 
tions :  the  eye  embraces  at  one  glance  the  vault  which  covers 
the  building  and  the  contreforts  which  support  it ;  it  sees 
nothing  which  does  not  explain  itself;  it  is  the  clearness  of 
the  art  of  Greece  itself." 

i-Hist.  cleVArch.  II.,  p.  34. 


Fl'ItXITI'llI-:—  Thr  Alt>ir 


150 


C.    FURNITURE   OF  THE    CHURCH 
ALTAR    AM)    CONFESSIO 

The  preceding  sections  have  several  times  furnished  occa- 
sion to  remark  upon  the  central  importance  of  the  altar  for  the 
architecture  as  well  as  for  the  ritual  of  the  church.  In  itself 
nothing  could  be  more  simple  than  this  importanl  piece  of 
furniture.  It  was,  as  it  was  also  commonly  called,  a  table. 
In  shape  it  was  copied  after  patterns  which  were  familiar  in 
secular  use;  it  consisted  of  a  rectangular  and  only  slightly 
oblong  top  supported  by  one,  four,  or  occasionally  five,  legs. 
The  Holy  Table  of  the  Church  had  as  little  resemblance  to  a 


Fig.  54.  —  Altar  of  the  fifth  century,  from  S.  Quenin,  France. 

pagan  altar  as  the  basilica  had  to  a  temple,  or  the  statue  of 
the  Good  Shepherd  to  an  idol.  We  can  well  understand  how 
the  Romans  could  make  and  the  Christians  admit  the  reproach 
that  they  had  "  no  altars,  no  temples,  no  images." 

This  simple  and  natural  shape  the  altar  retained  universally 
till  well  into  the  fifth  century.  The  early  altar  was  not  so 
high  and  by  no  means  so  long  as  has  been  common  in  the  West 
since  the  Middle  Ages.  From  the  beginning,  stone  as  well  as 
wooden  altars  were  employed ;  the  one  stood  in  relation  with 
the  tables  of  the  triclinium,  the  other  with  the  ornamental 
stone  table  of  the  atrium. 

The  use  of  wooden  altars  is  proved  by  early  texts,  and  it  is 
due  only  to  the  perishableness  of  the  material  that  none  have 


160  AltriiiTEcTrUE 

survived.  A  wooden  chest,  decorated  merely  with  a  single 
cross  upon  the  front,  is  venerated  in  the  Lateran  as  the  altar 
of  S.  Peter;  but  it  can  date  no  earlier  than  the  age  when  the 
altar  began  to  be  used  as  a  holder  of  relics.  It  is  not  men- 
tioned before  the  eleventh  century. 

Gradually  the  Church  came  to  discriminate  in  favor  of  altars 
of  stone;  this  was  very  obviously  on  account  of  their  more 
monumental  character  and  greater  durability.  An  edict  pur- 
porting to  be  of  Sylvester  I.  which  forbids  the  use  of  wooden 
altars  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  genuine,  since  it  rests  solely 
upon  the  testimony  of  the  Brevinriuin  lionutiunii  (eleventh  cen- 
tury). Such  a  prohibition  is,  however,  proved  for  Gaul  at 
least  by  the  twenty-sixth  canon  of  the  Council  of  Epaon  (517); 
but  the  rule  must  have  suffered  occasional  exceptions  even 
after  this  period.  Thanks  to  the  durableness  of  the  material, 
several  stone  altars  of  the  fifth  century  have  been  preserved, 
at  least  in  part.  The  altar  illustrated  in  Fig.  54  is  from  South- 
ern France  (S.  Quenin,  now  at  Vaison)  ;  it  is  ornamented  with 
the  eucharistic  vine,  while  in  the  middle  are  two  doves  which 
approach  the  monogram  of  Christ.  A  similar  altar  plate  from 
S.  Marcel  (Ardeche),  now  in  the  museum  of  S.  Germain,  rep- 
resents six  sheep  on  each  side  departing  from  the  towns  of 
Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem  and  approaching  the  monogram. 
An  altar  from  Auriol  in  the  south  of  France  has  on  the  front 
twelve  doves  and  the  monogram,  and  on  the  sides  tendrils  of 
the  vine.  This  table  is  noteworthy  for  the  fact  that  it  is  sup- 
ported by  a  single  stout  pedestal.  An  altar  which  Galla 
Placidia  found  in  S.  Giovanni  Evangelista  in  Ravenna  was 
supported  upon  five  legs,  which  were  later  supplanted  by  plates 
of  stone  when  the  altar  assumed  the  form  of  a  chest ;  the 
original  legs  have  been  in  part  preserved.  Likewise  of  the 
fifth  century,  and  perhaps  earlier  than  any  of  these  examples, 
are  the  mosaics  of  the  cupola  of  the  Orthodox  Baptistery  in 
Ravenna  (S.  Giovanni  in  fonte).  They  represent  a  stone  altar 
of  the  simple  table  form  supported  upon  four  round  legs  or 
columns.  Four  times  the  design  is  repeated  around  the  base 
of  the  dome,  and  on  each  altar  rests  an  open  book  bearing  the 
name  of  one  of  the  Gospels.  The  custom  of  leaving  the  Gos- 
pels upon  the  altar  finds  witness  elsewhere. 

The  change  of  form  which  the  altar  underwent  in  the  sixth 


FURNlTUJiE—The  Altar 


161 


century  was  clue  exclusively  to  the  cult  of  relics,  or  rather  to  the 
new  form  that  cult  then  took  of  enclosing  the  relics  within  the 
altar.  In  treating  of  the  catacombs  it  has  been  shown  that 
the  Eucharist  was  early  brought  into  close  relation  with  the 
tombs  of  the  martyrs ;  that  it  was  celebrated  either  in  the 
martyr's  crypt  and  upon  his  tomb,  or  in  a  chapel  directly  above 
it.  The  great  basilicas  which  Constantine  and  later  emperors 
built  above  the  tombs  of  the  Apostles  and  martyrs  were  in 
thorough  keeping  with  early  traditions,  and  they  were  repeated 
everywhere  throughout  the  Christian  world.  It  was  accounted 
a  matter  of  prime  importance  that  the  altar  be  brought  into 


\)r{  II  l^T'-llilfiiniiilfllllRllilliriSI'l! (71 


H  IVI'P/ 


Fig.  55.  —  Altar  with  confessio,  S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro,  Rome. 


the  closest  possible  relation  with  the  tomb,  or  be  located  at 
least  directly  above  it.  To  accomplish  this  end,  hillsides  were 
excavated  and  whole  galleries  of  the  catacombs  were  cut  away. 
Many  tombs  had  to  be  destroyed  in  reaching  the  grave  of  the 
martyr;  but  his  resting-place  was  scrupulously  respected, 
and  except  in  the  rarest  cases  the  body  was  not  moved 
even  the  few  feet  which  might  be  required  to  bring  it 
into  the  desired  relation  to  the  church,  all  considerations  of 
convenience  were  subordinated  to  the  aim  of  bringing  the 
church  to  the  body.  In  the  most  favorable  case  the  floor  of 
the  presbyterium  was  brought  to  a  level  with  the  top  of  the 
tomb  (sarcophagus,  loculus,  cubiculum,  or  whatever  it  might 
be) ;  and  since  the  altar  stood  usually  upon  the  edge  of  a  plat- 


162 


AUt'IIITKCTl'lU-: 


form  which  was  raised  by  a  Eew  steps  above  the  floor  of  the 
church,  an  opening  in  the  wall  of  the  platform  beneath  the 
altar  afforded  a  view  of  the  relics.  The  chamber  surrounding 
the  tomb,  and  the  shaft  or  gallery  through  which  it  was  put 
in  relation  with  Hie  altar,  is  called  the  confessio. 

No  part  of  the  ancient  churches  has  suffered  more  than  the 
confessio  from  the  pious  zeal  of  reconstructors.  Though  no 
early  example  has  remained  unaltered,  there  are  several  medi- 
aeval constructions,  like  S.  Giorgio  in  Velabro  (Fig.  55),  which 


* 


/ 


liliK 


Fig.  56.  —  Altar  with  fenestella  confessionis,  in  S.  Alessandro,  Rome.     Fifth  century. 


exhibit  substantially  the  early  scheme.  The  opening  into  the 
confessio  was  closed  by  a  grating  of  stone  or  metal  —  the  fenes- 
tella confessionis  —  which  allowed  the  worshippers  a  glimpse 
of  the  tomb.  It  is  evident  that  this  arrangement  required  no 
change  in  the  table  form  of  the  altar.  In  the  case,  however, 
that  the  presbyterium  was  not  raised  above  the  level  of  the 
church,  the  fenestella  had  sometimes  to  be  inserted  between 
the  legs  of  the  altar,  as  in  S.  Alessandro  at  Kome  (Fig.  56). 
This  example  furnishes  an  excellent  illustration  of  a  typical 
fenestella  of  an  early  and  Classical  pattern.  The  fenestella 
was  provided  with  an  orifice  large  enough  to  admit  an  arm  \ 


FURNITURE— The  Altar  163 

small  objects,  particularly  handkerchiefs,  introduced  here  and 
brought  in  contact  with  the  sacred  tomb  acquired  the  charac- 
ter of  relics  (brandea, palliola).  Any  mention  of  the  exporta- 
tion of  relics  during  the  first  five  centuries  must  be  understood 
to  refer  exclusively  to  such  as  these.  This  orifice  was  closed 
by  costly  doors  —  often  of  silver  or  gold  —  which  were  secured 
by  a  lock.  The  key  itself  was  sometimes  given  as  a  relic ; 
and  de  Rossi  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  Italy  keys  are 
still  given  to  children  as  amulets. 

The  bodies  of  both  of  the  Apostles  S.  Peter  and  S.  Paul  lay 
deep  beneath  the  floors  of  their  respective  basilicas,  and  were 
brought  into  relation  with  the  altar  by  a  vertical  shaft  similar 
to  the  luminaria  of  the  catacombs.  In  the  case  of  S.  Peter's 
the  shaft  was  twice  interrupted  by  perforated  plates,  which 
were  extended  across  it, — here  called  cataractce.  Objects  de- 
posited upon  the  lower  plate  gained  extraordinary  value  as 
relics.  This  is  proved  by  the  request  of  Justinian.  He  had  first 
begged  portions  of  the  bodies  of  the  two  Apostles  for  a  church 
which  he  was  building  in  their  honor  at  Constantinople.  When 
this  request  had  been  denied  him  by  Pope  Hormisdas,  on  the 
ground  that  the  custom  of  separating  the  bodies  of  the  saints 
was  one  unknown  to  the  Romans,  he  asked  that  his  relics 
might  if  it  were  possible  be  placed  upon  the  lower  plate 
(ad  cataractam  secundam).  Constantine  had  surrounded  the 
tombs  of  both  the  Apostles  with  cubical  cases  of  wood  covered 
with  gold  crosses  in  the  form  of  the  monogram  of  Christ,  and 
since  that  time  they  had  been  rendered  entirely  inaccessible. 

Constantine  himself,  however,  followed  a  different  plan  in 
the  construction  of  the  confessio  of  S.  Lawrence.  In  this  case 
likewise  the  tomb  and  its  cubiculum  lay  deep  below  the  floor 
of  the  basilica,  but  it  was  rendered  accessible  by  two  stairways 
(gradus  ascensionis  et  descensionis),  which  were  doubtless  entered 
at  the  corners  of  the  apse.  The  grave  itself  Constantine  sur- 
rounded with  an  apse,  ornamented  below  with  porphyry  and 
covered  above,  in  the  half-dome,  with  silver ;  silver  chancels 
enclosed  it,  and  before  it  burned  a  gold  lamp  of  ten  wicks,  a 
silver  corona  with  fifty  dolphins  (lamps),  and  two  bronze  candela- 
bra. In  front  of  the  tomb  of  the  martyr  was  the  instrument 
of  his  passion,  a  gridiron  plated  with  silver.  This  confessio  is 
already  in  this  text  called  a  crypt,  but  it  was  provided  with 


104  ARCHITECTURE 

no  altar  besides  that  of  the  basilica  above,  nor  did  it  serve  as  a 
mode]  for  later  crypt  constructions.  On  the  contrary,  the 
arrangemenl  accorded  so  little  with  the  early  ideals  that  in  the 
reconstruction  of  the  basilica  (probably  by  Leopardus  about 
the  end  of  the  fourth  century)  the  floor  was  sunk  in  order  to 
bring  the  altar  into  closer  relation  with  the  grave. 

It  has  been  explained  (p.  50)  how  the  body  of  S.  Valentine 
was  made  accessible  by  a  gallery  constructed  in  imitation  of 
those  of  the  catacombs.  The  type  of  gallery  or  crypt  which 
was  typical  of  later  constructions  is  represented  in  the  church 
of  S.  Pancrazio  near  Rome,  and  was  probably  due  to  Pope 
Honorius  I.  (625-638).  It  is  a  semicircular  passage,  entered 
at  the  corners  of  the  apse  and  following  its  foundation  wall ; 
from  the  middle  of  this  half-circle  a  straight  horizontal  gallery 
leads  to  the  tomb.  There  are  several  examples  of  this  type 
at  Ravenna,  and  elsewhere  in  early  churches,  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  they  antedate  the  instance  mentioned  above.  From 
this  it  is  evidently  but  a  short  step  to  the  excavation  of  a 
single  large  chamber  under  the  presbyterium  —  the  type  of 
crypt  which  became  characteristic  of  the  Romanesque  churches. 
Such  a  crypt  often  appears  in  mediaeval  reconstructions  or  imi- 
tations of  ancient  basilicas,  with  the  consequence  that  the 
presbyterium  is  raised  high  above  the  nave. 

In  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  a  custom  which  occa- 
sionally introduced  a  novelty  in  the  construction  of  the  apse. 
It  sometimes  happened  that  a  memorial  basilica  could  not  be 
built  immediately  above  the  tomb  of  the  martyr,  because  the 
ground  was  already  occupied  by  a  venerable  chapel  which 
the  builder  scrupled  to  destroy.  In  this  case  the  apse  of 
the  basilica  was  constructed  upon  a  tangent  to  the  apse  of  the 
earlier  shrine,  and  a  window  was  opened  at  the  point  where 
they  met.  A  perforated  stone  window  plate  (transenna)  here 
took  the  place  of  the  fenestella,  and  enabled  the  worshippers 
in  the  greater  church  to  glance  beyond  the  altar  and  enjoy  a 
glimpse  of  the  martyr's  chapel.  An  instance  of  this  arrange- 
ment is  the  basilica  of  S.  Sinforosa  near  Rome  (Fig.  28,  c). 

Paulinus  of  Nola  elaborated  this  idea  in  the  construction 
of  the  new  basilica  of  S.  Felix.  He  opened  arcades  of  three 
arches  in  the  apses  of  both  basilicas,  leaving  between  them  a 
covered  court  which  served  as  entrance  hall  to  the  buildings. 


FURNITURE— The  Altar  165 

The  arcades  were  closed  by  transennie,  but  Paulinus  claimed 
that  through  them  the  worshippers  in  the  new  church  could 
participate  iu  the  mass  which  was  celebrated  over  the  tomb  of 
the  martyr.  This  example  seems  to  have  led  to  numerous 
imitations.  We  have  a  contemporary  instance  of  this  con- 
struction in  the  recently  discovered  apse  of  the  Basilica 
Severiana  in  Naples  (Fig.  40).  It  seems  to  have  been  employed 
also  with  a  merely  decorative  purpose  in  cases  where  there 
was  no  question  of  a  martyr's  tomb.  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  as 
reconstructed  by  Sixtus  III.  (432^440),  seems  to  have  had  an 
apse  which  was  put  in  communication  with  a  surrounding 
gallery  by  means  of  such  an  arcade.  At  least  this  seems 
necessary  to  explain  a  curious  reference  which  the  Liber 
Pontificalis  makes  to  this  church  in  the  life  of  Paschal  I., 
where  it  is  said  that  at  the  celebration  of  the  mass  the  women 
stood  behind  the  seat  of  the  pontiff,  so  that  he  could  say 
nothing  to  his  assistants  without  being  overheard  by  them. 
The  room  behind  the  apse  seems  in  this  case  to  have  been 
used  as  a  matroneum.  An  arcaded  apse  of  this  sort  is  illus- 
trated by  a  bronze  lamp  of  the  fifth  century  (Fig.  153.) 

It  was  naturally  about  the  confessio  and  the  altar  that  the 
costliest  decoration  was  expended.  There  is  frequent  mention 
in  the  Liber  Pontificalis  of  gifts  of  silver  for  the  decoration 
of  a  confessio.  Sixtus  III.  (432-440)  persuaded  the  Emperor 
Valentinian  to  place  as  a  votive  offering  above  the  confessio 
of  S.  Peter  "a  golden  image  with  twelve  doors  and  twelve 
Apostles  and  the  Saviour  adorned  with  precious  gems."  We 
have  to  understand  that  this  was  designed  in  relief  with  the 
Apostles  and  the  Saviour  framed  in  as  many  arcaded  niches. 
The  design  was  common  upon  the  sarcophagi.  Symmachus 
(498-514)  placed  the  same  design  in  silver  above  the  confessio 
of  S.  Paul.  Precisely  where  such  a  relief  might  be  placed  is 
not  clear  from  the  mere  notice  that  it  was  above  the  confessio  ; 
it  may  have  been  attached  to  the  perpendicular  wall  below 
the  altar ;  but  it  is  equally  likely  that  it  was  in  front  of  the 
altar  and  between  its  legs,  constituting  the  earliest  example 
of  an  antipendium.  Less  is  said  than  one  might  expect  about 
costly  materials  being  employed  for  the  altar.  Nothing  is 
said  about  the  great  altar  of  the  Lateran,  though  seven  silver 
altars  of  prothesis  are  mentioned.     It  may  be  that  reverence 


166  ARCBITECTURE 

for  the  traditional  form  of  t lie  altar  served  to  perpetuate  the 
use  of  stone,  and  the  use  of  altar  cloths  had  doubtless  some- 
thing to  do  with  it.     However,  altars  of   precious  meta]  arc 

occasionally  mentioned:  for  example,  the  altar  which  Con- 
stantine  gave  to  S.  Peter's  was  of  silver  plated  with  gold  and 
adorned  with  four  hundred  gems,  weighing  altogether  350 
pounds.  Justinian  gave  a  gold  altar  to  the  church  of  S. 
Sophia. 

Whatever  influence  the  earty  confessio  may  have  had  upon 
the  shape  of  the  altar,  it  was  confined  to  the  memorial  churches 
without  the  city.  It  will  be  remembered  that  within  the  city 
limits  burial  was  forbidden,  and  the  congregational  churches, 
the  titles,  were  therefore  without  the  confessio.  The  preserva- 
tion of  relics  of  a  specially  sacred  character,  such  as  the  wood 
of  the  Holy  Cross  for  which  Constantine  built  the  basilica  of 
S.  Croce,  may  have  required  the  construction  of  an  imitation 
confessio.  Secondary  relics  such  as  have  been  described 
above  needed  no  such  elaborate  care  ;  at  the  most  they  were 
deposited  in  a  cavity  made  in  the  plate  of  the  altar,  and  they 
led  to  no  change  in  its  form. 

The  next  stage  in  the  development  of  the  altar  was  due  to 
the  custom,  which  grew  rapidly  during  the  sixth  century,  of 
translating  the  bodies  of  the  martyrs  and  depositing  tbem 
within  the  churches  of  the  city ;  —  except  in  Rome,  where  no 
translations  were  made  until  after  the  middle  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury. This  often  led  to  the  construction  of  a  true  confessio  or 
crypt ;  but  more  commonly  the  relics  were  deposited  immedi- 
ately beneath  the  plate  of  the  altar.  The  reconstruction  of  the 
altar  which  this  required  was  at  first  not  very  radical.  The 
relics  were  enclosed  within  a  stone  cippus  which  closely  imi- 
tated the  heathen  pattern.  That  is  to  say,  it  was  a  block  of 
stone,  roughly  cubical  in  dimension,  hollow  within,  and  orna- 
mented on  the  front  by  a  doorway,  like  a  miniature  tomb.  This 
was  placed  beneath  the  altar  and  constituted  its  chief  support, 
though  as  its  lateral  dimension  was  smaller  than  that  of  the 
altar  it  did  not  entirely  do  away  with  the  table  legs.  There 
are  a  number  of  examples  of  sixth-century  altars  of  this  char- 
acter at  Ravenna  and  elsewhere.  In  S.  Giovanni  Evangelista 
at  Ravenna  such  a  confessio  was  placed  under  an  earlier  table 
altar,  and  the  space  which  intervened  between  it  and  the  legs 


FURNITURE— The  Clborium  167 

of  the  tabic  was  enclosed  with   plates  of  marble.     This  leads 

directly  to  the  final  step,  in  which  the  altar  was  enclosed  on  all 
four  sides  by  plates  of  stone  and  became  a  mere  chest  for  the 
preservation  of  relics.  It  was  not  till  the  Middle  A.ges  that  it 
became  customary  to  enclose  a  sarcophagus,  or  a  fully  extended 
body,  within  the  altar,  with  a  consequent  lateral  extension 
which  corresponded  to  the  length  of  the  human  figure. 

The  custom  of  erecting  more  than  one  altar  in  the  church 
grew  out  of  the  cult  of  relics.  Such  altars  came  into  use  about 
the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  at  hist  in  side  chapels, later 
in  the  church  itself  and  even  in  the  nave. 

THE    CIP.ORIUM 

To  protect  and  dignify  the  altar  (see  p.  104)  a  roof  of  square 
plan  supported  by  four  columns  was  often  erected  over  it. 
The  name  ciftomm  —  to  be  derived  from  Kifiwpcov  a  cup,  —  is 
explained  by  the  form  of  roof  which  was  commonly  given  it  in 
the  Orient:  a  cupola,  like  an  inverted  cup  (Fig.  144).  In  the 
West,  however,  a  steep  conical  or  pyramidal  roof  seems  to  have 
been  more  common.  The  four  supporting  columns  were  placed 
at  a  sufficient  distance  from  the  altar  to  permit  free  passage 
around  it.  They  were  surmounted  either  by  architraves  upon 
which  the  roof  directly  rested,  or  by  arches  which  were  filled 
out  at  the  corners  so  as  to  form  a  horizontal  base  for  the  roof. 
The  character  of  the  arch  is  illustrated  by  Fig.  39,  but  the 
roof  generally  rose  very  much  higher  than  in  this  example. 
No  ciboriums  of  the  early  period  have  been  preserved  entire, 
and  the}T  are  but  scantily  illustrated  in  Christian  art.  "We  have 
evidence  enough,  however,  chiefly  in  the  way  of  descriptions, 
to  establish  securely  the  general  traits  as  they  have  been  given 
above.  The  earliest  ciboriums  we  know  date  from  the  ninth 
century,  and  they  still  adhere  to  the  ancient  type.  It  was  not 
till  about  the  twelfth  century  that  any  novelty  was  introduced ; 
at  that  time  it  became  the  fashion  in  Italy  to  support  the  roof 
above  the  architraves  upon  rows  of  colonnettes,  giving  it  a  much 
lighter  and  more  graceful  appearance  than  the  earlier  form 
could  boast.  In  the  early  period  the  material  was  of  wood, 
stone,  bronze,  or  silver.  It  must  suffice  to  mention  a  few  of  the 
most  notable  examples. 


108  AHCHITECTURE 

The  Liber  Pou/ijiculis  describes  the  ciborium  which  Constan- 
tine  presented  to  the  Lateran.  The  roof  was  of  silver  and. 
weighed  2025  lbs.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  it  was  supported 
upon  marble  columns,  and  it  is  probably  to  be  restored  like  the 
ciborium  in  Fig.  39;  but  the  account  is  engrossed  with  the 
decoration  and  gives  no  hint  of  the  fundamental  form.  In 
front  was  an  image  of  the  Saviour  seated,  live  feet  in  height 
and  weighing  120  pounds.  There  were  then  the  twelve  Apostles, 
likewise  five  feet  in  height,  and  weighing  90  pounds  each. 
As  symmetry  requires,  there  were  doubtless  two  Apostles  at 
each  side  of  the  Saviour,  and  four  upon  each  of  the  adjoining 
sides  of  the  ciborium.  On  the  opposite  side,  facing  the  apse, 
the  Saviour  was  again  represented,  seated  upon  a  throne,  and 
at  each  side  of  him  two  angels  holding  rods  in  their  hands. 
The  roof  was  ceiled  with  gold.  For  the  lamps  which  adorned 
it  see  p.  351. 

This  work  of  art  was  carried  away  by  the  hordes  of  Alaric  in 
410 ;  but  Sixtus  III.  (432-440)  persuaded  the  Emperor  Valen- 
tinian  to  erect  a  new  ciborium,  of  which  we  know  only  that  it 
was  likewise  of  silver  and  weighed  nearly  as  much  as  the  old. 

In  the  Basilica  Ursiana  in  Ravenna  the  Bishop  Victor  (539- 
546)  replaced  an  old  wooden  ciborium  by  one  of  silver  weighing 
two  thousand  pounds,  —  presumably  through  the  generosity  of 
Justinian.  In  S.  Sophia  the  columns  as  well  as  the  roof  of  the 
ciborium  were  of  silver;  it  is  described  at  length  and  with 
enthusiasm  by  Paulus  Silentiarius.  This  work  had  the  fortune 
to  endure  till  the  thirteenth  century. 

THE    CHANCELS 

Cancellus  was  the  Latin  word  which  was  commonly  used  for 
the  low  screens  which  marked  the  separation  of  the  presbyterium 
and  choir  from  the  rest  of  the  church.  In  a  later  time  the 
name  came  to  be  applied  to  the  presbyterium  itself  —  the  chan- 
cel. Very  few  chancels  of  the  early  period  have  been  preserved 
in  place ;  we  get,  however,  a  clear  idea  of  the  normal  arrange- 
ment in  S.  Clemente  at  Rome,  where  the  sixth-century  screens 
(Fig.  58)  of  the  choir  and  presbyterium  were  simply  removed 
from  the  lower  church  and  set  up  in  the  twelfth-century  church 
above.     "We  get  an  equally  good  idea  of  the  arrangement  of 


FURNITURE—  Chanct  h 


choir  and  presbyterium  in  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin  at  Koine 
(eighth  century),  where  the  marble  chancels  which  had  been 
employed  for  the  pavement,  or  for  other  uses  equally  foreign 
to  their  purpose,  have  been  judiciously  restored  to  their  original 
position  (Fig.  38).  A  glance  at  the  illustration  will  prove  more 
satisfactory  than  a  long  description.  In  this  case  it  will  be 
noticed  that  the  presbyterium  extends  some  distance  into  the 
nave,  and  a  few  steps  lead  from  the  middle  of  it  into  the  choir. 
In  other  cases,  as  in  S.  Clemente,  the  chancels  of  the  presby- 
terium coincided  with  the  chord  of  the  apse,  and  the  altar  stood 
upon  a  line   with  them;    the  approaches  had  therefore  to  be 


c    a 


mm 


Fig.  57.  —Chance 


of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  reconstructed  from  frt 
oratory  of  Equizio  and  in  S.  Lorenzo,  Rome. 


ints  in  the 


constructed  on  either  side  of  the  altar.  In  the  illustration  it 
will  be  noticed  that  the  chancels  of  the  presbyterium  are  sur- 
mounted by  a  light  colonnade  for  the  support  of  curtains. 
The  choir  too  was  sometimes  provided  with  such  a  colonnade 
about  its  entire  circumference.  Here,  as  in  S.  Clemente,  there 
are  two  ambons,  or  pulpits,  at  the  sides  of  the  choir.  They 
were  used  for  the  singers  and  lectors,  and  later  for  the  preacher ; 
they  differed  in  dignity  and  use,  as  they  differed  in  form. 

A  very  great  number  of  ancient  chancels,  or  fragments  of 
them,  have  lately  been  brought  to  light  in  Kome ;  they  had 
been  contemptuously  employed  in  the  Middle  Ages  for  wall 
and  floor  decoration.     These  finds  inform  us  as  completely  as 


170 


AUeiUTECTURE 


we  could  wish  about  the  form  of  the  early  Christian  chancels, 
whether  they  were  of  stone,  wood,  or  metal.  During  the 
fourth  and  tilth  centuries  they  adhered  closely  to  the  patterns 
winch  had  been  long  current  in  Rome,  —  that  is  to  say,  they 
were  usually  stiff  geometrical  designs  in  openwork,  following 
the  technic  of  metal.  Fig.  57  shows  a  reconstruction  of  two 
chancels  of  this  period  from  fragments  found  at  Koine  in  the 
oratory  of  Equizio  and  in  the  church  of  S.  Lorenzo.  From 
the  sixth   to  the  ninth  century  the  chancels  received  a  new 


Fig.  58.  —  Chancel  in  S.  Clemente,  Rome.    Sixth  century. 

type  of  decoration,  and  became  the  chief  field  for  such  stone 
carving  as  was  still  practised, — that  is,  for  the  conventional 
designs  in  low  relief  which  were  copied  from  contemporary 
textile  patterns  (see  p.  377).  No  other  stone  chancels  have 
been  preserved ;  but  wooden  ones  are  also  recorded,  and  so 
are  also  chancels  of  bronze  and  silver.  The  most  elaborate 
of  all  were  doubtless  the  silver  chancels  which  decorated  the 
church  of  S.  Sophia.  Constantine  employed  chancels  of  gilded 
bronze  in  the  church  of  the  Apostles  at  Constantinople. 


THE    COLONNADE    IN    FRONT    OF    THE    PRESBYTERIUM 

A  row  of  four  or  six  great  columns  sometimes  adorned  the 
presbyterium.  Their  object  seems  to  have  been  similar  to  that 
of  the  ciborium,  to  add  dignity  to  the  chief  room  of  the  church. 
They  were  not  originally  intended  to  mark  the  limits  of  the 
presbyterium,  for  they  did  not  always  coincide  with  it ;  still 
less  were  they  designed  for  the  support  of  curtains,  or  in  any 
way  to  hide  the  altar  from  the  people.  It  is  probable  that 
the  earliest  examples  were  simply  decorative,  and  were  not 
even  connected  by  an  architrave.     It  is  from  this  ornamental 


F  UR  NI T  UB  E  —  Th  e  leo  n  oetasia  l  7 1 

feature,  however,  that  we  have  to  trace  the  rood-screen  ot  the 
Gothic  churches  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  iconostasis '  of  the 
Greek  on  the  other. 

In  the  round  church  of  the  Anastasis  at  Jerusalem  Constan- 
tine  erected  twelve  columns,  corresponding  to  the  number  of 
the  Apostles.  From  the  notice  that  their  capitals  were  sur- 
mounted by  huge  silver  craters  we  are  led  to  suppose  that  they 
were  not  connected  by  an  architrave.  Where  they  were  placed 
or  how  they  were  arranged  —  whether  in  a  circle  or  semicircle 
—  does  not  appear. 

We  are,  on  the  other  hand,  very  clearly  informed  about  both 
the  character  and  the  arrangement  of  the  six  white  marble 
columns  which  (according  to  the  Liber  Pontificalis)  Constantine 
brought  from  Greece  and  erected  in  the  church  of  S.  Peter. 
They  are  described  as  columnas  vitineas,  which  alludes  to  their 
adornment  with  traceries  of  the  vine,  with  birds  and  flowers  — 
an  example  of  the  decadent  taste  of  the  age.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  account  of  their  origin,  there  grew  up  in  the  Middle 
Ages  a  tradition  that  they  were  taken  from  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem.  It  is  mainly  due  to  this  tradition  that  they  were 
preserved  in  the  rebuilding  of  S.  Peter's,  some  of  them  are 
employed  to  decorate  the  niches  of  the  piers  high  up  under  the 
dome,  and  one  is  venerated  in  a  side  chapel  where  it  can  con- 
veniently be  studied.  It  is  due  to  this  tradition  also  that  we 
have  the  familiar  representation  of  them  in  Raphael's  tapestry 
which  pictures  the  healing  of  the  impotent  man  at  the  door  of 
the  Temple.  The  position  which  these  columns  originally 
occupied  in  S.  Peter's  is  exhibited  in  the  well-known  fresco 
(probably  by  Giulio  Romano)  in  the  Sala  di  Constantino  in 
the  Vatican.  They  stood  in  a  row  across  the  front  of  the 
presbyterium,  at  some  distance  behind  the  triumphal  arch. 
This  was  probably  their  original  position ;  but  it  is  likely  that 
originally  they  were  not  connected  by  an  architrave ;  it  seems 
at  least  as  if  the  free  position  would  comport  better  with 
Classical  traditions.  But  at  all  events  they  were  provided 
with  an  architrave  as  early  as  the  time  of  Sergius  III.  (687- 
701) ;  and  Gregory  III.  (731-741)  added  another  row  of  six 

1  The  iconostasis  is  a  solid  screen  of  considerable  height  which  separates 
the  presbyterium  from  the  nave.  It  is  adorned  with  sacred  pictures  and 
pierced  by  a  central  door. 


172  ARCHITECTURE 

columns,  fashioned  in  imitation  of  them  and  placed  behind 
them. 

A  single  colonnade  of  six  columns  is  preserved  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  Torcello  (Fig.  36)  ;  in  this  case,  however,  the  choir  as 
well  as  bhe  presbyterium  is  included  behind  it,     The  horizontal 

brain  which  connected  the  columns  offered  a.  surface  which  was 
sometimes  decorated  like  a  frieze;  it  served  as  a  support  for 
lamps  and  chandeliers,  and,  after  the  seventh  eentury,  for  large 
images,  —  images  of  silver  happen  to  be  mentioned  most  fre- 
quently. 1 1  is  easy  to  see  how  the  iconostasis  was  developed 
from  this  form.  In  the  illustration  above  alluded  to,  it  will  be 
noticed  that,  between  the  chancels  and  the  architrave,  there  is 
but  little  open  space  left ;  that  too,  it  must  be  remembered,  was 
often  covered  by  curtains  (see  p.  378).  As  the  Oriental 
Church  permitted  no  images  carved  in  the  round,  it  was  natu- 
rally disposed  to  make  the  most  of  the  field  which  the  screen 
offered  for  pictorial  representations. 

THE    CATHEDRA 

About  the  seating  arrangements  of  the  churches  there  is  very 
little  to  be  said.  There  are  a  few  examples  of  a  simple  stone 
bench  within  the  choir;  more  frequently  the  seat  of  the  pres- 
byters has  been  preserved,  and  that  too  was  a  stone  bench  con- 
structed in  a  semicircle  around  the  wall  of  the  apse.  Whatever 
dignity  or  adornment  it  had,  it  must  have  received  from  rich 
cushions  and  wall  hangings. 

The  presbyters'  bench  was  interrupted  in  the  middle  by  the 
cathedra  or  throne  of  the  bishop.  To  give  the  greater  distinc- 
tion to  this  seat,  a  niche  was  sometimes  constructed  for  it  in 
the  apsidal  wall  (as  in  S.  Balbina  at  Eome),  it  was  sometimes 
surmounted  by  a  baldachino  of  stone  (as  at  Grado),  and  it  was 
generally  raised  several  steps  higher  than  the  benches  which 
flanked  it  on  either  side.  The  cathedra  itself  was  a  chair  of 
dignity,  such  as  the  Roman  senators  used  on  public  occasions. 
Many  of  the  earliest  examples  which  we  know  were  actually 
taken  from  pagan  buildings,  or  at  least  bought  in  the  public 
shops;  it  is  especially  the  finest  and  the  most  graceful  of  them 
which  are  most  obviously  not  of  Christian  origin.  During  the 
first  five  centuries  one  type  of  cathedra  seems  to  have  been  all 


FURNITURE  — The  Cathedra  173 

but  universal :  a  solid  arm-chair  with  high  rounded  back  carved 
out  of  a  single  block  of  marble.  The  famous  statue  of  8.  Hip- 
polytus  furnishes  an  early  example  of  such  a  cathedra;  in  the 
illustration  (Fig.  118)  it  is  seen,  unfortunately,  only  in  face. 
Later  the  cathedra  was  often  constructed  upon  the  spot,  built 
up  of  large  blocks  of  stone.  The  decoration  was  generally  of 
a  simple  character,  and  rarely  of  any  great  interest  from  the 
point  of  view  of  Christian  art.  For  distinction,  as  well  as  for 
comfort,  the  cathedra  must  have  relied  largely  upon  its  tex- 
tile coverings,  and  in  particular  its  cushion  and  stool. 

The  singular  importance  of  the  cathedra  lay  in  the  fact,  that 
it  was  not  only  the  bishop's  seat,  but  also  his  pulpit.  For 
it  was  the  invariable  custom  in  the  Church,  as  it  had  been 
among  the  Jews,  for  the  preacher  or  teacher  to  address  the 
congregation  from  his  seat.  It  will  readily  be  understood  that 
the  traditional  position  of  the  cathedra,  at  the  back  of  the  apse, 
was  not  well  chosen  as  a  point  whence  the  congregation  of  a 
great  basilica  might  be  addressed.  The  interposition  of  the 
ciborium,  or  of  a  colonnade  in  front  of  the  presbyterium,  ren- 
dered the  position  still  more  unsuitable.  It  is  related  that  S. 
Chrysostom  preached  from  the  lectors'  ambon  in  the  nave,  in 
order  that  he  might  be  heard.  It  is  probable  that  the  bishop 
often  used  a  portable  cathedra  which  might  be  placed — at 
least  during  the  sermon  —  near  the  chancels  of  the  presby- 
terium. Such  seems  to  have  been  the  use  of  the  ivory  cathe- 
dra (Fig.  114)  of  Bishop  Maximianus  of  Eavenna  (516-556). 
The  fact  that  it  is  sculptured  behind,  as  well  as  before,  proves 
that  it  was  not  intended  to  be  set  against  the  wall. 

The  chair  which  is  venerated  in  Kome  as  the  cathedra  of  S. 
Peter  is  a  portable  chair  of  wood  (sedia  gestatoria),  of  pagan 
origin,  decorated  with  ivory  reliefs  representing  mythological 
subjects.  The  history  of  the  chair  is  unknown.  It  is  in  a 
ruinous  condition,  and  was  long  ago  enclosed  in  a  heavy  sup- 
porting frame. 

The  position  of  the  congregation  during  the  sermon  was  less 
uniform  than  that  of  the  Bishop.  In  prayer  they  commonly 
stood  with  outstretched  hands ;  kneeling  was  a  more  unusual, 
and  distinctly  a  penitential,  attitude.  In  certain  regions,  par- 
ticularly in  Africa  and  in  Gaul,  it  remained  the  custom,  at  least 
as  late  as  the  fifth  century,  to  stand  during  both  the  sermon 


174 


.1/,''  UlTKCTVUE 


and  the  lections.  In  such  cases  it  is  evident  that  no  seats  were 
required  for  the  people.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  proof,  as 
early  as  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  that  it  was  the  more 
general  custom  of  the  Church  to  sit  during  the  sermon.  Seats, 
therefore,  must  have  been  provided  for  the  people.  The  char- 
acter of  the  mosaic  floor  proves  that  they  were  not  a  stationary 
part  of  the  church  furniture  ;  but  nothing  more  precise  is  to  be 
learned  about  their  character. 


THE    AMBON 

While  the  bishop  preached  from  the  cathedra  within  the 
limits  of  the  presbyterium,  the  lector  read  the  Scriptures  from 
a  pulpit  erected  outside  the  presbyterium 
and  nearer  the  people.  From  the  fact 
that  it  was  ascended  by  a  flight  of 
steps,  the  pulpit  received  the  name 
ambon  (avafiaiveiv) ;  or  from  its 
shape  and  elevation  it  was 
called  "  the  tower,"  wvp- 
yos.  The  ambon  stood 
sometimes  on  the  mid- 
dle axis  of  the  nave, 
sometimes  to  one  side 
of  it.  Two  ambons  were 
frequently  used  to  dis- 
tinguish the  Gospel  from 
the  lections  which  were  taken  from  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
Epistles.  In  this  case,  they  flanked  the  choir  or  the  presbyte- 
rium on  either  side,  and  were  distinguished  from  one  another 
by  difference  in  size  and  ornamentation.  The  lectern  of  the 
Epistle  ambon  commonly  faced  the  altar ;  that  of  the  Gospel 
faced  directly  across  the  nave.  The  position  of  the  two  am- 
bons, relative  to  the  altar,  was  not  fixed  ;  the  Gospel  was  read 
now  from  the  right  side,  now  from  the  left  (see  Fig.  38).  The 
paschal  candlestick,  which  seems  to  have  come  into  use  about 
the  sixth  century,  stood  beside  the  Gospel  ambon.  In  shape 
the  ambon  was  commonly  round  or  octagonal  (Fig.  59)  with  a 
solid  balustrade,  and  with  an  approach  of  some  half-dozen 
steps  upon  one  or  both  sides.     The  double  flight  of  stairs  was 


Fie.  59.  —  AmboD  in  Thessalonica.     Fifth  century. 


FURNITURE— of  the  Baptistery  175 

probably  required  for  the  singers,  some  of  whom  stood  upon 
the  ambon  or  its  steps  during  the  chants.  At  S.  Sophia  there 
was  a  single  ambon  in  the  middle  of  the  nave.  It  was  ap- 
proached from  the  presbyterium  by  a  raised  passage,  crwXcas, 
across  which  the  clergy  could  move  without  hindrance  from 
the  crowd.  This  ambon  was  so  great  that  the  singers  found 
room  beneath  it;  above,  it  was  crowned  by  a  row  of  columns 
bearing  lamps. 

FURNITURE    OF    THE    BAPTISTERY 

The  arrangement  of  the  baptistery  requires  but  brief  notice. 
A  flight  of  steps  descended  into  the  round  or  polygonal  font 
(piscina  or  fons),  which  was  sunk  beneath  the  level  of  the  floor, 
and  sometimes  raised  also  somewhat  above  it  by  a  breastwork 
of  stone.  The  font  was  surrounded  by  a  row  of  columns  which 
supported  curtains  to  insure  the  most  perfect  privacy  and 
decency  during  the  immersion.  The  columns  were  united 
occasionally  by  archivolts,  more  frequently  by  architraves. 
The  architraves  were  sometimes  adorned  by  metrical  inscrip- 
tions ;  the  eight  distiches  in  the  Lateran  baptistery  are  as- 
cribed to  Sixtus  III.  In  the  Lateran  baptistery  Constantine 
constructed  a  font  of  porphyry,  covering  with  silver  the  out- 
side of  the  breastwork,  and  the  inside  as  far  as  the  water  line. 
In  the  middle  of  the  font  he  erected  a  porphyry  column  sup- 
porting a  golden  viol  ("  where  the  candle  is ")  weighing  52 
pounds ;  there  also  incense  was  burnt  at  Easter  time.  Upon 
the  rim  of  the  font  and  pouring  water  into  it  was  a  golden 
lamb  weighing  30  pounds.  On  the  right  of  this  a  silver  image 
of  the  Saviour  five  feet  high  and  weighing  170  pounds.  On 
the  left  a  similar  statue  of  John  the  Baptist,  bearing  the  in- 
scription :    BEHOLD   THE   LAMB  OF   GOD,  BEHOLD   HIM  WHO   TAK- 

eth  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  There  were  besides 
this  seven  silver  harts  of  80  pounds  each,  likewise  pouring 
water  into  the  font.  There  is  mentioned  also  a  censor  of  gold, 
weighing  15  pounds,  and  adorned  with  49  emeralds.1 

1  Lib.  Pont.,  —in  vit.  Sylvestri. 


170  ARCHITECTURE 

D.    POSITION  AND  SURROUNDINGS  OF  THE  CHURCH 
OR]  ENTATION 

The  Christians  adopted  for  the  orientation  of  their  churches 
the  direction  precisely  opposite  to  that  of  the  pagan  temples; 
thai  is.  it  was  the  apsidal  end  and  not  the  front  which  was 
directed  toward  the  east.  From  the  earliest  period  of  church 
building  there  was  a  disposition  to  give  to  the  apse  an  easterly 
direction;  this  direction  may  even  be  said  to  have  been  pre- 
scribed, and  a  rule  to  this  effect  actually  occurs  as  early  as  the 
middle  of  the  third  century  in  the  Apostolic  Constitutions} 
Athanasius  regarded  it  as  an  Apostolic  ordinance  that  the 
church  must  face  the  east.  Until  the  beginning  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  however,  the  rule  was  so  far  from  being  scrupu- 
lously observed  that  it  suffered  almost  as  many  exceptions  as 
it  could  boast  instances.  The  direction  of  the  street  or  the 
nature  of  the  ground  often  interfered  with  a  strict  compliance 
with  this  rule,  or  even  completely  reversed  the  direction.  The 
variety  in  the  direction  of  the  churches  is  specially  great  in 
Rome  ;  nearly  every  point  of  the  compass  is  there  represented. 
S.  Peter's  has  the  apse  on  the  west  end,  and  it  was  evidently 
obliged  to  take  this  direction  on  account  of  the  position  of  the 
Apostle's  tomb  with  reference  to  the  Vatican  Hill.  The  first 
basilica  built  over  the  tomb  of  S.  Paul  had  likewise  its  apse  at 
the  west  end,  and  without  any  apparent  reason.  The  greater 
basilica  which  supplanted  it  in  389  reversed  the  direction  and 
complied  with  the  rule.  The  direction  of  the  street  may  ac- 
count for  the  easterly  position  of  the  entrance  in  the  case  of 
S.  Sebastiano  and  of  SS.  Nereo  and  Achilleo  on  the  via  Appia, 
and  of  S.  Clemente  and  S.  Maria  in  Dominica  within  the  city. 
The  Lateran  basilica  has  the  same  direction,  though  the  reason 
is  not  obvious.  The  westerly  position  of  the  apse  seems  to  have 
been  deliberately  chosen  in  the  case  of  S.  Lorenzo  fuori  le 
mura.  Some  of  the  most  important  churches  in  Rome  were 
directed  toward  various  odd  points  of  the  compass,  probably 
on  account  of  the  direction  of  the  ancient  streets.  S.  Maria 
Maggiore,  S.  Prassecle,  and  S.  Prudentiana  are  directed  toward 
the  northwest ;  S.  Marco  toward  the  north ;  S.  Sabina,  north 

i  Book  II.,  c.  57. 


POSITION  AND  SURROUNDINGS— Orientation         177 

east;  and  S.  Agnese  and  S.  Saba,  southeast.  The  great  ba- 
silica at  Tyre,  built  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  was 
intentionally  directed  with  its  entrance  toward  the  east,  and 
its  builder,  .Paulinus,  constructed  a  high  door  expressly  to 
admit  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun.  The  great  basilica  attached 
to  the  Anastasis  in  Jerusalem  had  likewise  its  entrance  toward 
the  east.  The  basilica  of  S.  Felix  at  Nola  had  the  apse  at  the 
west  end ;  but  Paulinus  acknowledges  that  this  was  contrary 
to  "the  more  usual  custom,"  and  he  explains  it  by  the  neces- 
sity of  bringing  it  into  relation  with  the  apse  of  the  ancient 
chapel  of  the  saint.  Socrates  relates  that  the  chief  church  at 
Antioch  had  "  an  inverted  direction  "  inasmuch  as  the  altar  was 
at  the  west  end. 

Turning  from  the  exceptions  to  the  rule,  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  in  Ravenna,  and  in  general  wherever  Byzantine  influence 
was  felt,  the  easterly  direction  of  the  apse  was  almost  as 
strictly  observed  as  it  came  to  be  in  the  Middle  Ages.  It 
was,  however,  very  rarely  that  the  church  lay  exactly  east 
and  west ;  there  was  a  declination  greater  or  less  to  one  side 
or  the  other.  It  is  a  question  whether  this  variety  was  due 
simply  to  accidental  causes,  the  direction  of  the  street,  etc.,  or 
is  to  be  referred  to  a  symbolical  purpose.  The  attempt  has 
been  made  to  prove  the  latter  opinion  by  showing  that  the 
direction  was  chosen  with  reference  to  the  point  where  the 
sun  rose  upon  the  date  of  the  chief  feast  of  the  church  in 
question,  or  upon  one  of  the  turning  points  of  the  year.  The 
proof  is  too  ingenious  and  too  uncertain ;  but  it  is  hardly  open 
to  doubt  that  it  was  not  the  true  east  but  the  position  of 
the  rising  sun  which  imposed  the  direction.  It  has  been 
remarked  that  in  Ravenna,  where  the  apse  was  at  the  east  end, 
it  was  pierced  by  windows,  whereas  in  Eome,  where  the  chief 
churches  had  the  apse  at  the  west  end,  it  was  without  them. 

The  numerous  exceptions  to  the  rule  of  the  eastern  apse 
have  been  taken  to  prove  that  the  earlier  rule  in  the  West 
required  the  entrance,  not  the  apse,  to  face  the  east,  and  that 
the  custom  which  later  became  universal  had  its  origin  in  the 
Orient.  But  when  it  is  remarked  that  the  most  notable  in- 
stances of  this  supposed  Western  rule  are  confined  to  churches 
which  were  built  by  Constantino  or  presumably  under  his  in- 
fluence—  the  Lateran,  S.  Peter's,  S.  Paul's,   S.  Lorenzo,  the 


178  ARCHITECTURE 

An;ist;isis,  the  basilicas  in  Tyre  and  Antioeh —  it  seems  likely 
that  tins  easterly  direction  of  the  entrance  was  a  particular 
fancy  of  that  emperor's.  Thai  Oonstantine  may  have  had  a 
strong  prejudice  niton  a  subject  like  this  is  not  improbable,  for 
it  is  known  that  even  after  he  was  converted  to  Christianity 
he  retained  many  traces  of  his  earlier  sun  worship. 

ATRIUM    AND    PERIB0L0S 

With  exception  of  the  memorial  shrines  which  were  erected 
over  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  the  early  Christian  churches 
were  almost  invariably  within  the  cities.  As  Christianity  was, 
for  a  long  time,  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  greater  cen- 
tres of  civilization,  the  churches  had,  for  the  most  part,  to  be 
content  with  such  scanty  room  as  could  be  provided  in  densely 
populated  towns.  Like  the  private  houses  from  which  they 
traced  their  origin,  the  basilicas  were  commonly  crowded  in 
between  surrounding  buildings ;  or,  even  if  more  room  was  at 
their  disposal,  it  was  filled  up  with  chapels,  hospices,  schools, 
and  the  whole  complex  of  buildings  which  were  required  as 
adjuncts  to  the  church.  The  effort  was  made,  however,  to  se- 
cure a  free  space  in  front  of  the  church,  a  quadrangular  court 
paved  with  marble  and  surrounded  on  all  four  sides  by  porti- 
cos (Figs.  27,  e,  29,  30).  This  was  known  by  various  names, 
in  the  West  most  commonly  as  the  atrium  or  quadriporticus. 
The  atrium  was  an  almost  invariable  feature  of  the  early  basil- 
icas in  the  West ;  in  the  East  it  was  less  commonly  employed, 
and  apparently  as  an  imitation  of  the  Western  custom ;  after 
the  fifth  century  it  became  everywhere  less  common,  and  only 
in  rare  cases  was  it  imitated  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  atrium 
provided  a  dignified  entrance  to  the  basilica,  and  at  the  same 
time  protected  it  from  the  noise  of  the  public  streets.  It  was 
used  for  the  instruction  of  the  catechumens,  for  the  feeding  of 
the  poor,  and,  doubtless,  for  many  other  of  the  purposes  for 
which  a  cloister  and  court  might  serve.  When  burial  within 
the  city  became  customary  it  was  the  atrium  which  first  pro- 
vided room  for  it.  The  atrium  itself  was  sometimes  com- 
pletely surrounded  by  subordinate  buildings  which  the  more 
effectually  secluded  the  church.  One  may  raise  the  query 
whether  an  atrium  surrounded  by  buildings  of  either  secular 


POSITION  A  ND   S  UBIIO  UNDIXG  S  —  A I  ri » ,n 


170 


or  ecclesiastical  use  would  not  bo  an  apt   provision   for  the 

requirements  of  our  modern  life  in  great  cities,  where  the  old- 
fashioned  churchyard  is  out  of  the  question,  and  the  noise  of 
the  streets  is  more  than  ever  discomforting. 

In  the  middle  of  this  court  there  was  as  a  rule  a  fountain  of 
running  water  (the  cantharus)  for  the  symbolical  purification 
of  those  who  were  about  to  enter  the  church.  The  washing 
was  generally  confined  to  the  hands.  This  custom  bad  its 
suggestion  not  only  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  Jewish 
use,  but  in  a  practice  which  was  invariably  associated  with  the 
Classical  temple.  The  symbolism  was  in  itself  so  obvious  that 
it  hardly  depended  upon  example 
or  suggestion.  These  early  foun- 
tains with  their  pure  running  water 
were  vastly  superior,  from  an  aes- 
thetic as  well  as  an  hygienic  point 
of  view,  to  the  holy  water  basins  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  The  fountain 
was  generally  provided  with  spring 
water  by  an  aqueduct.  No  spring 
water  being  available  for  his  basilica 
at  Kola,  Paul  in  us  depended  upon 
rain  water,  which  he  collected  from 
the  roof  of  the  church.  He  de- 
scribes this  arrangement  in  one  of 
his  poems,  and  he  glories  in  it  as  an 
example   of   humble  reliance   upon 

God's  provision.  Even  in  view  of  a  dearth  of  water,  he  could 
console  himself  with  the  handsome  appearance  of  the  fountain 
and  its  ornaments.  The  fountain  must  have  taken  very  various 
forms.  The  basin  was  commonly  surrounded  by  a  balustrade 
of  sculptured  marble;  it  was  very  frequently  surmounted  by 
an  ornamental  roof  supported  upon  columns. 

The  most  interesting  ancient  cantharus  of  which  we  have 
any  notice  was  that  which  adorned  the  atrium  of  S.  Peter's. 
It  was  erected  by  Symmachus  (498-514)  in  substitution  of  an 
earlier  and  simpler  one.  The  cantharus  of  Symmachus  endured 
throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  but  with  the  rebuilding  of  S. 
Peter's  was  brutally  destroyed.  The  huge  bronze  pine  cone 
which  formed  the  centre  of  the  fountain,  and  two  of  the  bronze 


Fig.  60.  —  Bronze  cantharus  formerly 
in  the  atrium  ol'S.  Peter's. 


180  ABCEITECTUBE 

peacocks  which  adorned  the  roof,  arc  preserved  in  one  of  the 
courtyards  of  the  Vatican  Palace.  It  is  supposed  that  the  pea- 
cocks wen-  taken  from  the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian  (Castel  S. 
Angelo),  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  cone  too  adorned  the 
summit  of  that  monument.  Figure  GO  gives  a  rough  represen- 
tation tit'  this  cantharus  as  it  was  shortly  before  its  destruction. 
It  is  from  a  sketch  of  one  of  the  earliest  of  Christian  archaeolo- 
gists, the  Dutchman,  Philip  de  Winghe;  valuable  as  it  is,  it 
does  not  accurately  correspond  with  the  descriptions  we  have 
of  this  interesting  monument.  According  to  the  descriptions, 
the  roof  was  of  gilded  bronze ;  the  peacocks,  the  four  dolphins 
at  the  corners,  aud  the  great  cone  were  all  likewise  gilded. 
Eight  porphyry  columns  supported  the  roof,  and  between  them 
were  marble  chancels,  each  with  two  griffins  carved  upon  it. 
A  great  fountain  of  water  issued  from  the  cone  and  played 
over  its  surface,  falling  into  a  square  basin. 

Where  the  atrium  was  lacking,  as  was  generally  the  case  in 
the  Orient,  the  fountain  —  and  in  this  case  it  must  have  been  a 
smaller  one  —  was  placed  in  the  vestibule.  Figure  135  repre- 
sents close  by  the  church  door  a  small  basin  upon  a  high 
pedestal,  which  was  not  unlike  the  holy  water  basin  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  except  that  it  was  supplied  with  running  water. 

Very  rarely  in  the  West,  but  more  frequently  in  the  Eastern 
provinces  of  the  Empire,  the  church  stood  in  the  midst  of  a 
great  court  surrounded  by  a  wall  —  the  jjeribolos.  The  direct 
suggestion  of  the  peribolos  was  the  temenos  which  surrounded 
the  Greek  temple.  A  number  of  churches  which  were  built 
upon  the  sites  of  ancient  temples  retained  as  a  decoration  the 
temenos  which  had  surrounded  the  shrine.  In  the  simplest 
case  it  was  a  mere  wall  (Fig.  61),  but  it  was  often  adorned 
within  by  porticos.  In  any  case  it  characterized  only  such 
churches  as  had  considerable  pretension  to  magnificence.  A 
whole  complex  of  church  buildings  was  often  included  within 
its  circuit ;  in  many  cases  the  wall  may  have  been  needed  for 
defence. 

One  of  the  most  important  symbolical  motives  in  church 
architecture  is  the  broad  and  inviting  doorway.  This  motive 
was  first  adequately  developed  in  Gothic  architecture  ;  in  the 
early  period  it  was  only  the  Central  Syrian  churches  which 
expressed  it  in  the  design  of  the  facade.     The  motive,  however, 


POSITION  A  XT)    SUllIKWXlHNfiS—  1'mplnjhun, 


181 


was  by  no  means  ignored  by  the  ea"tly  Church;  but  the  pres- 
ence of  an  atrium  or  peribolos  required  that  the  symbolical 
importance  of  the  door  be  given  its  chief  expression,  not  at  the 
entrance  of  the  church  itself,  but  of  the  church  precincts.  The 
ml  ranee  of  the  atrium  was  in  fact  given  very  great  importance, 
and  Like  the  propylos  of  the  ancient  temple,  it  constituted  a 
building  by  itself,  projecting  beyond  the  walls  of  the  precinct. 
The  high  doorway 
which  Paulinus 
built  as  an  entrance 
to  the  peribolos  of 
his  church  in  Tyre 
was     designed    not 

to   admit    the 

of    the   rising 

but    to    allow 
who    passed 


only 
rays 
sim, 
those 
before  it  a  glimpse 
of  the  interior.  The 
pious  builder  hoped 
by  the  striking  ele- 
gance of  the  door- 
way to  attract  the 
adherents  of  the  old 
religions  and  induce 
them  to  enter  the 
church.  A  number 
of  notable  doorways 
are     mentioned    in 


Fig.  61.  —  Basilica  with  peribolos  in  Euweha,  Syria. 


early  Christian  literature,  but  except  for  mere  vestiges  of  the 
foundations  none  of  them  have  been  preserved.  The  propylos 
of  S.  Peter's,  as  represented  in  Fig.  30,  was  a  two-storied  build- 
ing with  three  doors,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  decide  how  much 
of  that  structure  may  have  been  due  to  mediaeval  reconstruc- 
tion. It  appears,  however,  that  the  doorway  usually  comprised 
three  entrances,  as  in  this  case. 


1VJ 


ARCHITECTURE 


\  n.iniN  i  nc;    i : i •  i  LDINGS 


The  baptistery  belonged  only  to  the  church  of  the  bishop. 
It  was  never  placed  directly  in  connection  with  the  church 
building,  though  it  often  adjoined  the  atrium.  It  had  there- 
fore a  separate  entrance  and  vest ihule,  and  like  the  church  it 
was  frequently  surrounded  by  chapels  or  oratories.  A  frequent 
adjunct  of   the   baptistery  was  a  hall    where   the  candidates 


Fig.  62.  —  Complex  of  church  buildings  at  El  Barah,  Syria. 

received  confirmation  (consignatio)  immediately  after  baptism 
and  before  entering  the  church. 

It  has  already  been  remarked  a  number  of  times  that  the 
early  churches  were  frequently  surrounded  by  chapels.  This 
is  illustrated  by  the  plan  and  the  prospect  of  S.  Peter's  (Figs. 
29,  30).  The  chapels  on  the  south  of  this  church  opened 
directly  into  the  side  aisle ;  those  on  the  north  were  separated 
from  it  by  a  narrow  passage.  The  chapels  or  cubicula  served 
two  purposes;  they  were  either  used  as  mausoleums  before 
burial  in  the  churches  was  allowed,  or  else  as  places  of  retire- 
ment for  pious  meditation  and  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures. 


POSITION  AND   S UU HOC X Dl \(!S—  The  Tower 


183 


An  interesting  adjunct  of  the  church  was  the  tower.  Various 
were  the  uses  to  which  the  tower  was  put,  and  it  is  uncertain 
which  use  may  have  constituted  the  original  or  chief  sugges- 
tion for  its  employment.  It  was  only  in  Syria  that  towers 
were  employed  in  pairs  and  brought  into  architectural  relation 
with  the  church  (  Fig.  32).  They  were  used  there  for  the  stair- 
ways which  ascended  to  the  upper  galleries  of  the  church  ;  and 
they  served   as  places  of  refuge   in  regions  where  there  was 


Fig.  68.  —  Memorial  church  of  S.  Simon  Stylites,  Kalat-Seman,  Syria. 


danger  of  sudden  attack.  In  the  TVest  only  a  solitary  tower 
was  used,  and  it  was  never  a  part  of  the  architectural  scheme. 
The  towers  were  either  square  or  round  in  plan,  and  were  di- 
vided into  about  a  half-dozen  low  stories.  The  tower,  however, 
was  by  no  means  a  general  necessity,  and  the  majority  of  the 
churches  remained  without  it.  It  is  probable  that  in  the  West 
they  were  from  the  beginning  employed  for  hanging  bells; 
but  the  date  of  the  introduction  of  church  bells  is  as  undeter- 
mined as  that  of  the  construction  of  towers.  The  ancient 
towers  which  remain  in  Rome  and  Ravenna  are  of  mediaeval 


184  ARCHITECTURE 

construction  in   the  upper  part,  and  even  the  bases  give  no  cer- 
tain clew  to  t  heir  date. 

Several  of  the  Syrian  sites  afford  good  examples  of  the  com- 
plex of  ecclesiastical  buildings  which  often  surrounded  the 
church  (Fig.  62).  Mbnasteria  seems  to  have  been  the  name 
given  to  small  chapels  built  in  the  vicinity  of  a  greater  church, 
particularly  if  they  took  the  form  of  little  basilicas.  Next  to 
the  chapels  the  most  important  adjuncts  of  the  church  were 
the  hospices  for  pilgrims  or  for  the  poor,  hospitals,  schools, 
baths,  and  the  dwellings  of  the  clergy.  The  hospice,  or  xeno- 
docJiium,  of  Pammachius  at  Porto  (Fig.  27,  e)  shows  an  orderly 
disposition  of  the  buildings  which  was  quite  uncommon.  It 
was  chiefly  in  the  case  of  the  later  monastic  settlements  in  un- 
cultivated and  pagan  lands  that  the  whole  complex  of  church 
buildings  could  readily  be  conformed  to  an  ideal  plan.  The 
early  buildings  were,  however,  often  very  magnificently  con- 
structed, and  they  included  rooms  for  a  very  great  variety  of 
purposes.  Particularly  impressive  is  the  description  of  Con- 
stantine's  church  of  the  Apostles  at  Constantinople.1 

1  Eusebius,  Vit.  Const.  IV.  59. 


IV 

PICTORIAL  ART 

Early  Christian  pictorial  art  is  here  treated  under  three 
chief  heads  :  Painting,  Sculpture,  and  Mosaic.  The  early  Chris- 
tian painting  which  we  have  to  consider  is  limited  almost  exclu- 
sively to  the  frescos  of  the  Roman  catacombs  (early  Bible 
miniatures  are  treated  apart) ;  the  sculpture  includes  numerous 
sarcophagi,  a  few  rare  statues,  and  some  interesting  reliefs  in 
wood  and  ivory ;  the  mosaics  par  excellence  are  those  which 
adorn  the  walls  of  the  churches.  One  would  hardly  propose 
any  other  division  than  this,  and  yet  it  must  be  confessed  that 
a  classification  of  pictorial  art  which  is  based  on  the  method 
of  execution  ceases  to  have  any  great  importance  when,  as  in 
the  early  Christian  period,  the  content  or  thought  of  a  picture 
predominates  over  the  interests  which  attach  to  mere  technic, 
to  the  greater  or  less  success  of  execution,  or  to  the  medium 
even  in  which  the  work  is  wrought.  This  division,  therefore, 
obvious  as  it  is,  cannot  be  adhered  to  strictly  and  exclusively ; 
it  is  crossed  here  and  there  by  a  classification  according  to  sub- 
jects, which  requires  sometimes  the  tracing  of  a  single  theme 
through  all  three  branches  of  art. 

This  familiar  and  obvious  division  can,  however,  be  the  more 
reasonably  retained,  because  it  corresponds  in  a  measure  with 
three  epochs  of  early  Christian  art,  which  were  marked  by  the 
development  of  their  own  peculiar  themes.  Christian  art  of 
the  second  and  third  centuries  is  represented  almost  solely  by 
the  frescos  of  the  catacombs,  and  the  study  of  early  Christian 
painting  is  chiefly  concerned  with  this  period,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  there  are  numerous  catacomb  frescos  of  the 
fourth  century,  and  occasional  examples  of  the  art  of  every 
century  down  to  the  Middle  Ages.  The  beginnings  of  Chris- 
tian sculpture  are  to  be  traced  back  to  the  third  century  ;  but 
it  was  in  the  fourth  century  that  it  received  its  characteristic 

185 


180  PICTORIAL   ART 

development,  and  within  the  fourth  and  fifth  are  included 
almost  all  of  the  monuments  which  we  have  to  study.  Chris- 
tian mosaic  ail  was  in  its  chief  lines  already  developed  in  the 
fourth  century;  but  it  is  to  the  fifth  and  sixth  that  the  great 
majority  of  the  monuments  belong.  The  themes  which  were 
represented  in  the  mosaics  differed  substantially  from  those 
which  were  current  even  in  contemporary  painting  and  sculp- 
ture. For  the  decoration  of  the  church  there  was  developed  a 
new  range  of  subjects,  which  were  in  part  symbolical,  and  yet 
different  from  those  which  originated  in  sepulchral  decoration; 
in  part  historical,  and  reflecting  directly  the  examples  of  Scrip- 
tural illustration  which  were  furnished  by  the  Bible  minia- 
tures. It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  in  following  freely  the 
division  which  is  here  chosen,  it  will  be  possible  to  take  account 
of  the  divisions  which  refer  to  time  and  to  those  also  which 
are  based  upon  a  classification  of  subjects. 

There  is  another  difficulty  of  method,  which  is  due  solely  to 
the  limited  space  at  our  disposal  for  the  treatment  of  so  large 
a  subject.  It  is  not  possible  here  to  allude  to  all  even  of  the 
important  monuments  of  early  Christian  art ;  it  is  possible  to 
present  only  a  representative  selection  of  them.  There  is  per- 
haps sufficient  space  for  a  general  critique  of  early  Christian 
art ;  but  with  this  there  would  not  be  space  enough  for  a 
liberal  illustration  of  it  by  concrete  examples.  Inasmuch  as 
the  chief  claim  of  archaeology  upon  popular  attention  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  furnishes  the  most  concrete  material  of  history, 
it  seems  well  in  this  instance  to  rest  satisfied  with  what  has 
been  said  in  the  Introduction  in  the  way  of  a  general  account 
of  the  conditions  and  development  of  early  Christian  art,  and 
to  add  here  only  so  much  of  a  theoretical  nature  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  appreciation  of  the  point  of  view,  and  for  the 
intelligent  apprehension  of  the  individual  monuments.  This 
chapter  will  therefore  be  mainly  occupied  with  the  task  of 
describing  a  few  of  the  most  notable  and  representative  monu- 
ments of  early  Christian  art  in  the  spheres  of  painting,  sculp- 
ture, mosaic,  and  miniature.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to 
explain  somewhat  at  length  the  character  of  early  Christian 
symbolism,  and  to  treat  with  some  degree  of  completeness  a 
few  of  the  principal  subjects  of  early  symbolic  art  —  as,  for 
example,  the  Good  Shepherd  and  the  fish. 


PAINTING  —  Introductory  187 

So  far  as  concerns  the  frescos  of  the  Roman  catacombs,  the 
treatment  is  of  necessity  incomplete.  The  reproductions 
which  have  hitherto  been  made  of  the  paintings  of  the  cata- 
combs are  far  from  being  exact  or  faithful.  The  opinions  and 
theories  which  have  been  founded  upon  them  reflect  the  same 
defects;  much  of  the  instruction  which  the  art  of  the  cata- 
combs  is  capable  of  furnishing  has  not  yet  been  brought  to 
light,  and  some  of  the  pictures  which  are  best  known  are 
the  theme  of  conflicting  theories.  Now,  however,  Monsignor 
Wilpert  has  ready  for  immediate  publication  a  great  work,  the 
fruit  of  long  labor,  which  is  at  once  a  complete  study  of  all  the 
paintings  of  the  Roman  catacombs  in  the  spirit  of  the  most 
candid  and  painstaking  research,  and  a  perfect  illustration  of 
them  by  means  of  the  most  exact  processes  of  reproduction. 
This  work  will  itself  reveal  much  that  is  new;  but,  what  is  of 
still  greater  importance,  it  will  put  in  the  hands  of  all  students 
the  material  for  independent  study.  While  expecting  the 
publication  of  this  book  one  would  indeed  be  rash  to  venture 
beyond  the  commonplaces  of  this  subject.  For  the  illustra- 
tions of  this  section  I  have  relied  exclusively  upon  the  pictures 
which  Monsignor  Wilpert  has  already  published  in  several 
preliminary  works. 

A.     EARLY    CHRISTIAN   PAINTING 

BEING   THE    FRESCOS    OF    THE    CATACOMBS,    AXD    EARLY 
CHRISTIE  X    SYMBOLISM    IN    GEXERAL 

Almost  all  that  need  be  said  about  the  technic  of  early  Chris- 
tian painting  —  and  indeed  of  sculpture  too  —  is  told  in  one 
word,  when  it  is  said  that  it  passed  by  no  single  step  beyond 
the  formulas  of  Classical  art,  and  that  it  followed  that  art  in 
its  rapid  decline  after  the  second  century.  Inasmuch,  however, 
as  the  frescos  of  the  Eoman  catacombs  are  almost  the  only 
examples  preserved  to  us  of  the  painting  of  the  second  and 
third  centuries,  it  is  in  them  chiefly  that  we  have  to  trace  the 
successive  steps  of  the  decline  of  this  art.  It  may  be  that  we 
derive  from  the  catacombs  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  impo- 
tence of  late  Classic  art,  for  it  must  be  observed  that  the 
execution  of  the  catacomb  frescos  was  from  first  to  last  exceed- 


188  PICTORIAL  ART 

ingly  sketchy,  as  was  natural  in  the  case  of  a  decoration  in- 
tended tor  small  sepulchral  chambers  wliieh  were  rarely  visited 
and  were  visible  only  b\  artificial  light.  At  the  same  time, 
rapid  execution  reveals  perhaps  as  well  as  more  studied  work 
the  training  of  the  artist.  The  mere  decoration  of  the  cata- 
combs demanded  no  more  than  a  rough  conventional  design; 
the  religious  interest  was  satisfied  with  the  bare  indication  of 
a  well-known  theme.  In  the  later  period  the  artist  was  con- 
tent to  fulfil  the  bare  requirements ;  the  artist  of  the  earlier 
period  rejoiced  in  picturesqueness  of  detail,  in  grace  and  natu- 
ralness of  execution,  the  spontaneous  expression  of  his  skill. 
The  decline  in  skill  was  so  uniform  and  so  uninterrupted  that 
it  enables  one  to  determine  approximately  the  date  of  most  of 
the  pictures.  Hand  in  hand  with  this  there  went  a  growing 
carelessness  even  in  the  preparation  of  the  plaster  upon  which 
the  picture  was  to  be  painted,  —  as  indeed  in  all  the  mechanical 
arts  of  building.  The  first  impression  of  the  paintings  of  the 
catacombs  is  rather  one  of  uniformity,  because  in  the  general 
devastation  the  best  are  often  reduced  to  the  same  state  as  the 
worst,  and  because,  moreover,  the  color  scheme  is  in  all  sub- 
stantially the  same  —  yellow,  red,  and  green  upon  a  white 
ground.  But  the  farther  one  goes  back  the  more  careful  were 
the  color  gradations  ;  in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  there  was 
less  and  less  attempt  at  gradation  from  one  color  or  shade  to 
another,  and  in  later  pictures  which  approach  the  Middle  Ages 
the  different  parts  of  the  figure  were  marked  by  the  rude  device 
of  tracing  with  a  line  of  black. 

But  all  of  this  is  of  more  interest  to  one  who  would  follow 
the  decline  of  Classic  art  than  to  us  who  are  pursuing  the  rise 
and  progress  of  the  Christian.  Of  so  little  interest  from  our 
point  of  view  are  the  technical  formalities  of  execution,  that 
some  of  the  best-preserved  pictures  are  of  less  importance  than 
others  which  are  now  to  be  traced  only  by  the  help  of  the 
artist's  preliminary  outlines  which  were  scratched  in  the  fresh 
plaster.  Many  of  the  subjects  which  were  represented  in  fresco 
were  reproduced  in  the  rude  graffiti  which  were  scratched  upon 
the  tombstones  or  upon  the  walls,  and  the  manifest  imperfec- 
tion of  this  type  of  art  hardly  diminishes  its  interest.  It  will 
appear  more  plainly  as  we  proceed  that  in  early  Christian  art 
the   substance  was  accounted   of   more   importance  than  the 


PAINTING  —  Introductory  1 89 

form;  it  is  still  more  obviously  true  that  our  interest  in  these 
early  monuments  of  art  centres  in  the  artist's  purpose  and 
thought  rather  than  in  the  comparative  success  of  his  execution. 

The  history  of  Christian  art,  if  we  regard  art  solely  with 
reference  to  its  form,  is  divided  into  three  periods.  The  first 
and  second  centuries  represent  the  best  period  of  Classical  art 
under  the  Roman  Empire.  This,  however,  was  but  a  faint 
reflection  of  Creek  art  of  the  best  period  ;  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  artists  in  Home  were  for  the  most  part  Greeks, 
working  under  Roman  influence  and  catering  expressly  to 
Human  taste.  What  was  true  of  Rome  in  general  was  espe- 
cially true  of  the  Christian  community,  which  was  thoroughly 
cosmopolitan  in  its  constitution  and  actually  used  the  Greek 
tongue  as  its  official  language.  The  third  and  fourth  centuries 
were  a  period  of  steady  decline.  The  following  centuries  wit- 
ness no  check  to  this  decadence,  albeit  they  are  characterized 
by  a  new  feature,  a  certain  stiffness  and  conventionality  which 
was  obviously  due  to  a  reaction  from  the  side  of  the  mosaic 
art,  which  was  then  fully  developed  in  the  decoration  of  the 
basilicas. 

But  if  we  turn  rather  to  its  material  than  to  its  formal 
aspects,  we  get  another  division  of  the  history  of  early  Chris- 
tian art  which  is  at  once  more  definitely  marked  and  more 
fundamental.  To  speak  only  of  the  first  four  centuries,  we 
have  first  to  consider  a  period,  extending  to  some  time  in  the 
early  part  of  the  second  century,  during  which  there  was  no 
Christian  art  properly  so  called,  and  the  decoration  employed 
by  Christians  was  merely  a  selection  of  the  more  innocent 
themes  of  pagan  art,  to  some  of  which  a  Christian  symbolical 
sense  might  be  attached.  By  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
however,  we  find  an  art  as  truly  religious,  as  truly  Christian, 
as  any  which  was  ever  developed,  and  none  the  less  Christian 
because  it  was  couched  in  Classic  form.  It  dealt  already  with 
a  wide  range  of  Biblical  subjects,  which,  without  any  consider- 
able extension,  remained  the  staple  of  Christian  art  throughout 
the  third  century.  There  was  from  the  first  a  typical  fixity  in 
the  mode  of  representing  these  subjects,  which  did  not  inter- 
fere, however,  with  a  rather  astonishing  liberty  in  certain  other 
respects.  The  order  of  time  in  which  these  subjects  emerged, 
and  their  relative  popularity,  can  rarely  be  determined  with 


100  PICTORIAL    ART 

precision,  and  at  all  events  it  constitutes  a  study  far  too 
minute  to  be  pursued  here.  It  is  sufficient  for  us  here  to  regard 
them  as  a  whole,  and  to  note  that  they  do  actually  display  an 
unity  of  type  which  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  stamped, 
expressed,  and  permeated  by  a  certain  mystic  symbolism  which 
was  in  many  respects  peculiar  to  the  age  of  persecution,  and 
seems  to  have  lost  its  interest  for  the  Church  with  the  very 
beginning  of  triumph  and  prosperity.  As  a  consequence  of 
this,  many  of  the  subjects  which  were  most  familiar  in  the 
third  century  disappeared  in  the  fourth,  or  were  reproduced, 
especially  in  the  sculpture  of  the  sarcophagi,  merely  through 
the  force  of  formal  tradition. 

With  the  fourth  century,  therefore,  begins  the  third  period 
of  Christian  art.  It  was  characterized  by  a  new  type  of  sym- 
bolism which  comported  with  the  new  trend  of  thought  which 
was  initiated  by  the  triumph  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  by  a 
new  use  of  art  as  it  emerged  from  the  catacombs  and  was 
employed  for  the  decoration  of  the  churches.  It  was  a  sym- 
bolism at  once  more  obvious  and  more  formally  dogmatic  than 
that  of  the  older  type ;  it  may  be  said  to  be  less  profoundly 
religious  and  more  ecclesiastical.  During  this  period,  however, 
symbolism  no  longer  constituted  the  predominant,  nor  even 
the  principal,  interest  of  Christian  art ;  it  was  supplanted  by  a 
purely  didactic  and  historical  treatment  which  dealt  chiefly  in 
the  description  of  Biblical  scenes.  But  what  is  peculiar  to  the 
development  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  belongs  primarily 
to  the  arts  of  mosaic  and  sculpture  and  will  be  treated  under 
those  heads.  We  have  here  to  deal  chiefly  with  the  art  which 
is  represented  by  the  early  frescos  of  the  catacombs,  or  more 
generally  with  the  whole  range  of  Christian  symbolism  as  it 
was  expressed  during  the  age  of  persecution. 

Inasmuch  as  early  Christian  painting  is  represented  almost 
solely  by  the  frescos  of  the  catacombs,  and  more  particularly 
the  catacombs  of  Rome,  we  must  take  into  consideration  the 
query,  whether,  and  to  what  extent,  it  is  the  expression  of 
merely  local  traditions,  and  how  far  it  was  expressly  designed 
for  and  limited  to  the  use  of  sepulchral  decoration. 

Even  as  between  one  catacomb  and  another  one  may  mark 
differences  which  are  expressed  both  in  formal  treatment  and 
in  a  preference  for  one  or  another  group  of  subjects.     They 


PAINTING  —  Introductory  191 

were  evidently  due  to  the  individuality  of  the  artists  who  were 
employed.  But  these  differences  do  not  go  very  deep,  the 
range  of  subjects  was  after  all  so  limited,  each  theme  was 
repeated  over  and  over  again  so  many  times  and  with  so  much 
similarity  of  treatment,  even  among  the  small  minority  of 
Roman  frescos  which  have  been  preserved,  that  we  have  rea- 
son probably  to  mourn  no  absolute  loss  of  a  new  and  singular 
theme  among  that  great  majority  in  Rome  and  elsewhere  which 
have  been  destroyed.  We  learn  from  literary  sources  that  the 
same  symbolism  was  current  throughout  the  Church,  and  it  is 
not  only  the  uniformity  of  art  throughout  the  Empire,  but  still 
more  the  wonderful  unity  which  bound  together  the  Christian 
communities  during  the  second  and  third  centuries,  which 
leads  us  to  believe  that  the  art  of  the  Roman  catacombs  was 
the  art  of  the  Church. 

We  shall  see  that  the  themes  which  are  represented  in  the 
art  of  the  catacombs  were  in  the  main  chosen  with  express 
reference  to  the  purpose  which  they  actually  served,  that  is, 
as  decoration  appropriate  to  the  grave.  There  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  these  same  subjects  were  employed  in  the 
decoration  of  private  houses,  nor  that  beside  this  another 
cycle  of  Christian  art  was  developed  for  the  decoration  of 
the  earliest  basilicas.  We  may,  on  the  contrary,  be  quite 
sure  that  in  point  of  decoration  the  house  of  a  Christian  dif- 
fered from  that  of  a  pagan  in  no  other  respect  than  in  the 
exclusion  of  the  indecencies  of  Classic  art.  Even  in  the 
fourth  century  no  new  domestic  decoration  was  developed; 
at  the  most  —  as  in  the  house  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo  in 
Rome  — the  conventional  Classic  decoration  was  eked  out  by  a 
few  of  the  traditional  pictures  of  the  catacombs.  As  for  the 
decoration  of  the  basilicas,  it  appears  very  evident  that  it  was 
first  developed  in  the  fourth  century.  Even  the  mosaic  decora- 
tion of  S.  Costanza  was  hardly  more  than  a  selection  from 
among  the  gracious  and  innocent  themes  of  Classic  art.  It  is 
more  closely  related  to  certain  of  the  catacomb  frescos  of  about 
the  end  of  the  first  century  —  as  in  the  earliest  cubicula  in 
S.  Gennaro  at  Naples  and  the  vestibule  of  S.  Domitilla  at 
Rome  —  than  it  is  to  any  of  later  date.  The  earliest  frescos  of 
the  catacombs,  those  which  antedate  the  creation  of  a  distinc- 
tive Christian  art,  have  therefore  a  peculiar  interest,  inasmuch 


102  PICTORIAL   ART 

as  thr\  may  be  taken  to  represenl  the  character  of  decoration 
which  the  Christians  preferred  for  their  houses  and  for  the 
early  basilicas  which  were  developed  from  them.  These  early 
frescos  of  t  lie  catacombs,  like  t  he  mosaics  "I  S.  ( 'ostanza  (  Figs. 
125,  126),  reproduce  with  a  merely  decorative  interest  birds, 
fishes,  ami  beasts,  trees,  garlands,  and  flowers,  ornamental  fig- 
ures and  busts,  cupids  and  victories,  and  many  mythological 
figures  which  were  of  too  common  a  use  to  suggest  expressly 
the  pagan  religion  to  which  they  traced  their  origin.  Of  these 
subjects  there  were  some  which  gained  a  special  popularity, 
because  it  was  possible  to  attach  to  them  a  Christian  symbol- 
ism; such,  for  example,  were  the  vine,  the  dove,  the  peacock, 
the  fish,  and  the  fisherman,  and  even  such  mythological  figures 
as  Psyche  and  Orpheus. 

But  we  must  pass  over  this  theme,  we  must  confine  our- 
selves here  to  that  class  of  pictures  which  is  beyond  all  doubt 
the  most  interesting,  those,  namely,  which  are  distinctly  sym- 
bolical, or  at  least  religious,  in  character.  There  was  a  time 
when  all  the  pictures  of  the  catacombs  were  symbolically  in- 
terpreted ;  there  has  lately,  on  the  other  hand,  been  much 
controversial  zeal  displayed  in  the  attempt  to  reduce  the 
symbolical  to  the  fewest  possible  number  of  instances.  If  we 
dwell  here  almost  exclusively  upon  religious  and  symbolical 
pictures,  it  is  simply  on  account  of  their  superior  interest, 
and  it  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  sign  that  we  would  ignore  the 
fact  that  there  are  others,  beside  the  purely  decorative  themes 
just  noticed,  which  have  no  religious  reference  at  all.  It  is 
beyond  a  doubt  that  there  are  many  purely  genre  pictures, 
representing  especially  the  professional  or  domestic  life  of  the 
deceased;  it  is  true,  too,  that  such  pictures  often  throw  an 
interesting  light  upon  early  manners  and  customs.  It  is  only 
for  lack  of  room  that  they  must  be  dismissed  with  this  bare 
notice,  along  with  many  subjects  of  an  expressly  religious 
character  which  cannot  well  be  included  under  a  few  general 
heads  which  we  can  here  study  with  some  degree  of  com- 
pleteness. 

Before  we  pass  to  the  study  of  any  special  themes  it  is 
necessary  to  consider  the  character  of  early  Christian  symbol- 
ism in  general.      > 


PAINTING  —  Symbolism  193 

EARLY    CHRISTIAN    SYMBOLISM 

It  would  hardly  be  necessary  to  discuss  early  Christian  sym- 
bolism  as  a  topic  by  itself  and  apart  from  the  monuments 
which  expressly  illustrate  Lts  character,  if  it  had  not  become 
a  point  of  controversy  more  zealously  contended  than  any 
other  in  the  whole  field  of  early  Christian  archaeology,  if  the 
symbolical  element  in  the  art  of  the  catacombs  had  not  been 
fantastically  exaggerated  by  some  and  unduly  minimized  by 
others.  The  point  at  issue,  however,  is  not  whether  early 
Christian  art  was  symbolical  or  not ;  but  how  far  the  symbol- 
ism extended,  and  what  precisely  was  its  character. 

From  Bosio  down,  the  archaeologists  have  commonly  carried 
to  so  fanciful  an  extreme  the  symbolical  interpretation  of  the 
pictures  of  the  catacombs  as  to  justify  a  sharp  reaction.  The 
reaction  proves  hardly  less  extreme,  but  it  may  be  hoped  that 
the  controversy  has  now  expired,  leaving  a  substantial  unanim- 
ity of  opinion  upon  the  principal  points  at  issue.  It  may  be 
remarked  that  de  Rossi  himself  was  not  altogether  a  safe 
guide  in  matters  pertaining  to  art,  and  his  own  immediate 
disciples  have  been  prompt  to  make  the  needed  retrenchments 
upon  his  teaching  on  this  subject.  A  group  of  German  Prot- 
estant writers  who  have  lately  attacked  the  Roman  archaeolo- 
gists with  some  violence  for  their  exaggerated  interpretations 
of  Christian  art  in  the  interest  of  Roman  dogma,  have  perhaps 
had  a  sobering  influence  upon  recent  studies,  though  they 
were  not  justified  in  confusing  all  Roman  archaeologists  with 
the  extremists,  and  they  were  unfortunate  in  transforming 
the  question  into  a  doctrinal  and  denominational  issue.  It 
is  of  no  interest  to  us  to  follow  the  history  of  the  contro- 
versy, it  is  enough  to  state  its  results  as  affording  a  sound 
basis  for  our  own  interpretation  of  early  art. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  unanimous  agreement  is  pos- 
sible upon  all  the  subjects  of  early  Christian  art,  for  in  many 
instances  the  interpretation  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  at  the 
best  uncertain.  It  is  not  to  be  hoped  that  all  will  confine 
themselves  to  a  fair  interpretation  of  symbols  which  may  be  so 
easily  wrested  to  the  pious  purpose  of  supporting  the  faith. 
But  neither  uncertainties  of  interpretation  nor  differences  of 
opinion  must  be  allowed  to  prejudice  the  fact  that  some  sym- 


104  PICTORIAL  ART 

holism  was  actually  intended  by  the  artists  and  understood 
by  those  for  whom  they  worked.  It  is  of  the  nature  of  the 
pictorial  symbol  to  be  somewhat  vague ;  therein  lies  its  chief 
advantage  over  the  more  definite  forms  of  speech,  its  suitable- 
ness for  the  expression  of  themes  —  particularly  religious 
notions  —  which  evade  the  grasp  of  logical  definition.  It 
expresses,  therefore,  nothing  with  the  definiteness  of  dogma, 
but  in  the  freer  terms  of  popular  thought. 

It  is  equally  of  the  nature  of  the  symbol  that  it  is  capable 
of  more  than  one  interpretation,  that  it  attracts  to  itself  an 
aggregation  of  kindred  suggestions  whereby  it  is  progressively 
enriched.  It  has  been  sought  to  throw  contempt  upon  any 
symbolical  interpretation  of  Christian  art  by  showing  that  the 
early  writers  attached  divers  significations  to  the  same  symbol. 
"What  this  does  prove  is  not  that  the  art  of  the  catacombs  was 
not  symbolical,  but  that  it  was  subject,  even  in  early  times,  to 
various  interpretations.  It  does  serve,  however,  as  a  caution 
against  an  arbitrary  attribution  of  a  fanciful  and  purely  sub- 
jective symbolism  to  the  early  age  of  the  Church.  One  is  at 
perfect  liberty  for  one's  own  delectation  to  attach  whatever 
meaning  one  chooses  to  any  symbol,  ancient  or  modern;  but  it  is 
altogether  fallacious  upon  this  ground  to  attribute  to  the  early 
age  of  the  Church  doctrines  and  religious  conceptions  which  are 
not  indubitably  expressed  by  the  symbol,  or  in  some  other  way 
clearly  proven  to  have  been  current  at  that  time. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  some  of  the  Roman  archaeolo- 
gists have  extravagantly  erred  against  this  principle.  From 
the  pictures  of  the  catacombs  there  is  not  so  much  to  be  learned 
about  the  dogmas  of  the  early  Church  as  has  been  supposed. 
They  are  chiefly  interesting  for  the  side  lights  which  they 
throw  upon  the  popular  religious  point  of  view  and  upon  re- 
ligious or  ecclesiastical  practices.  The  fundamental  error  of 
the  interpreters  lay  in  supposing  that  the  art  of  the  catacombs 
had  a  didactic  purpose,  that  it  was  intended,  like  the  historical 
pictures  of  the  basilicas,  for  the  instruction  of  the  ignorant  and 
unlettered.  This  idea  is  refuted  by  the  very  form  of  these 
pictures,  which,  if  they  are  symbolical,  are  on  that  very  ac- 
count capable  of  expressing  only  that  which  was  already 
familiar.  It  is  equally  inconsistent  with  the  place  where  they 
were  executed:  for  the  cubicula  of  the  catacombs  were  not 


PAINTING  —  Symbolism  1 9.', 

places  of  frequent,  far  less  of  public,  resort.  We  must  recog- 
nize the  probability  that  the  pictures  of  the  catacombs  were 
appropriate  to  the  place,  and  that  their  symbolism  had  refer- 
ence predominantly  to  the  hopes  which  illumined  the  prospect 
of  death. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  the  decoration  of  the  catacombs 
was  strictly  superintended  by  the  clergy,  that  the  hand  of  the 
artist  was  guided  by  the  theologian ;  and  it  is  sought  thus  to 
justify,  not  only  the  discovery  of  a  definite  dogmatic  import 
in  the  single  symbol,  but  the  concatenation  of  the  separate 
pictures  of  a  single  cubiculum  or  arcosolium  into  a  complex 
system  of  theological  ideas.  But  there  is  no  reason  for  attrib- 
uting to  the  early  age  of  the  Church  the  pedantic  direction  of 
art  which  is  first  proved  in  the  case  of  the  Byzantine  Church 
in  the  eighth  century.  It  is  true  that  in  the  fifth  century  the 
bishops  often  personally  directed  the  pictorial  decoration  of 
their  churches,  but  the  absence  of  any  literary  reference  to 
Christian  art  during  the  first  three  centuries  seems  to  prove 
that  the  ecclesiastical  leaders  had  but  little  interest  in  it,  that 
it  grew  up,  therefore,  in  response  to  a  popular  demand  and 
for  the  expression  of  popular  ideas.  Early  Christian  art  is  all 
the  more  important  on  this  account,  for  we  already  know  from 
their  writings  what  the  ecclesiastical  leaders  thought,  and  we 
desire  very  much  to  learn  what  notions  were  current  among 
the  people.  We  shall  find  that  early  Christian  symbolism  had 
a  deep  and  mystical  import,  but  that  it  by  no  means  consti- 
tuted a  learned  and  technical  system.  One  must  be  on  one's 
guard  against  weaving  into  a  system  any  series  of  pictures 
which  happen  to  be  painted  upon  the  same  wall  or  in  the 
same  chamber ;  they  must  be  presumed  to  be  separate  unless 
they  are  connected  by  some  range  of  ideas  at  once  obvious  and 
simple.  A  deeply  thought  out  connection  may,  however,  un- 
doubtedly be  traced  in  a  number  of  instances,  and  especially 
in  the  so-called  Sacrament  Chapels  of  the  catacomb  of 
Callistus. 

The  proof  that  early  Christian  art  was  in  fact  symbolical 
is  at  once  clearly  displayed  when  we  ask  ourselves  the  ques- 
tion, Why  do  we  find  a  monotonous  repetition  of  an  exceedingly 
narrow  choice  of  Biblical  subjects,  to  the  total  neglect  of  hosts 
of  others  which  were  no  less  important,  no  less  familiar  in 


L9fl  riCTOiuM.  Airr 

Christian  instruction,  no  less  dramatic  and  picturesque? 
There  is  no  possible  answer,  exec])!  that  their  choice  was  de- 
termined  by  symbolical  considerations.  The  symbolical  em- 
ployment of  art  by  the  early  Church  is  rendered  antecedently 
probable  by  two  considerations:  first,  by  the  fact  that  Roman 
art  had.  by  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  and  under  the 
influence  of  Oriental  cults,  assumed  largely  a  symbolical  char- 
acter, especially  in  the  decoration  of  sarcophagi ;  second,  by 
the  common  use  in  the  Church  of  allegorical  interpretations  of 
Scripture.  Alexandria,  whose  influence  was  paramount  in  the 
field  of  allegory,  is  likely  to  have  had  a  leading  part  in  fixing 
the  character  of  the  symbolism  of  Christian  art. 

The  character  of  this  symbolism  is  best  shown  by  the  study 
of  particular  instances.  What  it  is  necessary  to  remark  here 
is  the  effect  which  the  exclusive  symbolic  interest  had  upon 
the  execution  of  art.  It  is  to  this  we  have  to  attribute  the 
absence  of  picturesque  traits,  indifference  to  such  realistic 
effects  as  even  late  Roman  art  was  able  to  compass,  and 
carelessness  about  literal  agreement  with  the  terms  of  the 
Scriptural  account.  The  subjects  dealt  with  were  familiar  to 
all ;  the  artist  could  afford  to  abbreviate  description,  and  in 
depicting  the  chief  dramatic  moment  he  relied  upon  the  im- 
agination of  the  beholder  to  supply  the  whole  scene.  A  man 
floating  in  a  chest  served  to  recall  the  story  of  Noah  as  an 
instance  of  divine  deliverance.  Christ  touching  with  a  rod  a 
basket  of  bread  recalled  the  miraculous  multiplication  of  the 
loaves  and  symbolized  the  Eucharist.  The  story  of  Jonah  was 
commonly  represented  in  three  scenes ;  but  even  when  it  was 
abbreviated  to  one,  that  quite  sufficed  for  the  purpose  of  the 
symbolism.  The  artists  could  not  have  been  ignorant  that 
according  to  S.  John's  Gospel  the  face  of  Lazarus  was  covered 
with  a  napkin  and  his  tomb  was  closed  by  a  stone  door ;  yet 
he  is  invariably  represented  with  uncovered  face  standing 
under  an  open  tegurium ;  —  for  some  reason  or  another  this 
mode  of  representation  was  adopted,  and  since  everybody 
understood  its  meaning,  the  artist  had  no  need  to  seek  a  more 
accurate  expression.  No  one  could  suppose  that  the  ark  of 
Noah  was  a  cubical  chest  too  small  to  contain  a  single  person ; 
but  that  was  the  traditional  form,  it  demanded  very  little 
room,   and   the   symbolism   which  was  involved  was  as  well 


PAINTING  —  Symbolism  197 

expressed  by  that  as  it  would  have  been  had  the  artist 
stretched  his  invention  to  depict  a  boat  which  was  capable 
of  containing  all  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  all  the  fowls  of 
the  air. 

All  of  this  is  precisely  what  might  be  expected  if  the  situa- 
tion be  fully  taken  into  view.  The  beginnings  of  pictorial  art 
have  always  been  symbolical,  at  least  in  the  sense  that  more  is 
suggested  than  a  rude  art  is  able  to  depict.  All  art  is  apt  to 
strive  toward  the  attainment  of  realistic  representation,  or,  in 
other  words,  toward  illusion.  But  with  this  attainment  it  at . 
once  loses  a  certain  power  which  lay  in  its  early  suggestion. 
The  crude  wooden  idols  of  archaic  Greek  art  and  the  black 
Byzantine  Madonnas  of  the  seventh  century  were  worshipped 
with  a  religious  ardor  which  no  marble  of  Praxiteles,  nor  any 
canvas  of  Raphael,  ever  evoked.  The  archaic  smile  of  the  early 
Greek  image  might  suggest  a  divine  benignity  ;  the  perfect  art 
of  Greece  could  represent  all  that  is  gracious  and  noble  in  the 
human  countenance,  but  by  its  very  perfection  it  closed  the  way 
to  all  ulterior  suggestion.  Religious  art  is  fundamentally  sym- 
bolical, at  least  in  the  sense  that  it  relies  upon  suggestion, 
because  it  deals  with  things  which  cannot  be  depicted.  Chris- 
tian art  was  predominantly  symbolical  until  the  Renascence ;  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  with  the  skill  it  then  attained  it  lost 
much  of  its  religious  character.  In  this  case  the  value  of  early 
crude  suggestion  was  in  a  measure  offset  by  the  power  of  depict- 
ing the  human  face  as  it  was  moulded  and  inspired  by  Chris- 
tian motives  and  by  the  Christian  life. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  period  Classical  art 
was,  indeed,  unable  to  express  this  lofty  moral  ideal  —  life  had 
only  begun  to  furnish  the  models  for  it.  But  it  was  very  well 
able  to  depict  with  striking  realism  the  common  objects  of  na- 
ture and  the  common  scenes  of  life.  Only  a  little  earlier  the 
artists  had  boasted  of  their  skill  to  delude  the  eye.  If  Chris- 
tian art  did  not  take  full  advantage  of  the  skill  which  was 
actually  at  its  command,  this  was  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was 
intent  upon  other  things,  upon  the  expression  of  conceptions 
for  which  mere  skill  of  hand  availed  nothing.  It  was  bound 
to  ignore  the  possibilities  of  realism,  of  the  descriptive  and 
picturesque  in  art,  and  to  rely  upon  suggestion  and  symbol. 
When  early  Christian  painting  and  sculpture  displays  a  care 


198  PICTORIAL   ART 

for  artistic  symmetry,  for  picturesque  detail,  for  realistic  pre- 
cision, it  is  the  spontaneous  expression  of  the  artistic  instinct 
which  demanded  its  rights ;  all  this  was  not  required  of  the 
artist,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered " that  it  was  often  lacking. 
From  this  it  will  be  apparent  why  it  was  that  Christianity  in- 
terposed no  obstacle  to  the  decline  of  Classic  art:  it  put  no 
premium  upon  artistic  skill;  it  subordinated  technical  excel- 
lence to  the  interest  of  the  religious  symbol. 


SYMBOLS    OF    DIVINE    DELIVERANCE 

In  the  introduction  to  his  Etude  sur  les  sarcophages  Chretiens 
de  la  ville  d'  Aries,  Le  Blant  had  the  credit  of  suggesting  a  theory 
which  has  been  very  promptly  and  very  widely  accepted  by 
students  of  Christian  archaeology.  The  theory  was  suggested 
expressly  to  account  for  the  subjects  which  were  sculptured 
upon  the  sarcophagi,  but  it  applies  quite  as  well  to  the  frescos 
of  the  catacombs.  It  has  the  advantage  of  explaining  many 
of  the  themes  of  early  Christian  art  from  a  single  point  of 
view,  and  of  referring  them  to  a  distinctly  funereal  symbolism, 
which  expressed  the  Christian  trust  in  the  divine  might  which 
was  able  to  deliver  the  soul  even  from  death  and  the  grave. 

Starting  with  the  observation  that  the  phraseology  of  many 
early  epitaphs  seemed  to  be  derived  from  the  liturgy  of  the 
Church,  the  suggestion  lay  very  near  that  the  pictorial  themes 
also  might  have  been  inspired  from  the  same  source.  It  proved, 
in  fact,  very  easy  to  show  a  relation  between  the  themes  of 
Christian  sepulchral  art  and  the  funeral  liturgies,  which  is  alto- 
gether too  complete  and  too  precise  to  be  fortuitous.  Le  Blant 
referred  especially  to  the  prayers  in  the  Boman  Breviary  which 
commend  the  soul  to  God  in  the  hour  of  death.1  After  a  long 
litany  come  the  following  supplications :  — 

Receive,  O  Lord,  thy  servant  into  the  place  of  salvation  which  he  may 
hope  of  thy  mercy. 

Deliver,  0  Lord,  the  soul  of  thy  servant  from  the  pains  of  hell,  etc. 

Deliver,  0  Lord,  his  soul  as  thou  didst  deliver  Enoch  and  Elijah  from 
the  common  death  of  the  world. 

Deliver,  0  Lord,  his  soul  as  thou  didst  deliver  Noah  from  the  deluge. 

1  Ordo  commendationis  animse,  quando  infirmus  est  in  extremis. 


PAINTING  —  tiymbols  of  Deliverance  1 99 

Deliver,  O  Lord,  his  soul  as  thou  didsl  deliver  Isaac  from  sacrifice  and 
from  the  hand  of  his  father  Abraham. 

And  so  the  prayer  continues  with  the  same  formula,  men- 
tioning the  deliverance  of  Daniel  from  the  den  of  linns,  of  the 
Three  Children  from  the  burning  fiery  furnace  and  from  the 
band  of  the  wicked  king,  Abraham  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees, 
Job  from  his  sufferings,  Lot  from  Sodom  and  from  the  flame 
of  fire,  Moses  from  the  hand  of  Pharaoh,  king  of  the  Egyptians, 
Susanna  from  false  accusation,  David  from  the  hand  of  King 
Saul  and  from  the  hand  of  Goliath,  Peter  and  Paul  from  prison, 
and  Thecla  from  horrible  torture. 

It  is  remarkable  that  among  these  examples  of  signal  divine 
deliverance  there  are  very  few  subjects  which  are  not  repre- 
sented in  early  Christian  art,  and  they  are  such  as  did  not  lend 
themselves  to  pictorial  treatment — as  the  deliverance  of  Enoch 
and  the  departure  of  Abraham  from  Ur.  On  the  other  hand, 
this  list  includes  almost  all  of  the  Old  Testament  subjects 
which  were  employed  in  sepulchral  art.  Many  of  these  sub- 
jects are  repeated  in  other  prayers  which  are  connected  with 
the  Roman  funeral  liturgies,  and  it  is  to  be  remarked  that 
Lazarus  and  Jonah,  omitted  here,  are  elsewhere  added  to  the 
list.  They  are  here  omitted,  one  may  suppose,  because  they 
are  most  expressly  types  of  the  resurrection,  whereas  this  is 
a  prayer  for  deliverance  from  bodily  death.  It  has  to  be  ac- 
knowledged that  these  prayers  are  not  to  be  traced  to  any  texts 
which  are  earlier  than  the  ninth  century,  and  although  in  sub- 
stance they  doubtless  are  very  much  earlier,  it  would  be  rash  to 
refer  them  to  a  date  as  early  as  the  fourth  century,  and  still 
more  so  to  suppose  that  they  served  as  the  text  for  the  earliest 
examples  of  Christian  art  in  the  second  century.  They  are,  in 
fact,  to  be  regarded  rather  as  a  concurrent  witness  with  the 
art  of  the  catacombs  to  the  strength  of  a  type  of  thought  which 
was  exceedingly  familiar  in  early  Christian  literature  and  is  to 
be  traced  back  to  the  second  century. 

This  theory  was  put  upon  a  much  broader  and  a  sounder 
basis  by  Victor  Schultze,  who  sought  out  analogies  even  more 
complete  in  early  Christian  literature,  and  proved  the  broad 
currency  of  the  argument  which  was  drawn  from  signal  ex- 
amples of  divine  deliverance  and  from  the  miracles  of  Christ, 
in  proof  of  the  power  of  God  to  deliver  the  soul  from  sin  and 


200  PICTORIAL   AHT 

I  roin  death.  He  shows  also  that  the  Scriptures  themselves 
often  furnish  the  hint  which  marks  some  of  these  subjects  as 
1\  pica!  of  the  deliverance  of  the  soul  from  death,  and  he  notes 
thai  the  language  of  the  Psalter  obviously  encouraged  this 
mode  of  thought.  Le  Blant  himself  referred  to  an  engraved 
glass  cup  of  the  fifth  century  found  at  Fodgoritza  (see  p.  357), 
u  hieh  groups  together  a  considerable  number  of  these  subjects 
and  accompanies  some  of  them  by  inscriptions  which  seem  like 
an  echo  of  these  ancient  prayers.  Schultze  quotes  as  the 
Classical  example  a  passage  from  the  Apostolic  Constitutions ; ' 
"  He  who  raised  Lazarus  on  the  fourth  day  and  the  daughter 
of  Jairus  and  the  son  of  the  widow,  and  rose  also  himself;  who 
after  three  days  brought  forth  Jonah  living  and  unharmed 
from  the  belly  of  the  whale,  and  the  three  children  from  the 
furnace  of  Babylon,  and  Daniel  from  the  mouth  of  lions,  shall 
not  lack  power  to  raise  us  also.  He  who  raised  the  paralytic, 
and  healed  him  who  had  the  withered  hand,  and  restored  the 
lacking  faculty  to  him  who  was  born  blind,  the  same  shall 
raise  us  also.  He  who  with  five  loaves  and  two  fishes  fed  five 
thousand  and  had  twelve  baskets  over,  and  who  changed  the 
water  into  wine,  and  who  sent  the  stater  which  he  took  out  of 
the  mouth  of  the  fish  to  those  who  demanded  tribute  by  the 
hand  of  me  Peter,  the  same  shall  also  raise  the  dead." 2 

In  these  texts  there  are  included  the  majority  of  the  subjects 
which  were  commonly  employed  in  the  adornment  of  the  cata- 
combs and  of  the  sarcophagi,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it 
was  this  argument  of  deliverance  from  death  by  the  almighty 
power  of  God  which  accounts  for  the  selection  of  these  signal 
instances  of  deliverance  and  their  monotonous  repetition  in  early 
Christian  art.  The  relation  of  these  scriptural  instances  to 
the  personal  hope  for  departed  friends  is  sometimes  made  very 
obvious  by  the  substitution  of  the  figure  of  the  departed  in  the 
place  of  the  Biblical  character.  As  an  epitome  of  this  whole 
series  of  representations  we  must  regard  the  orans,  the  female 
figure  with  arms  outstretched  in  prayer,  which  symbolized  the 
soul  of  the  deceased.  One  is  left  to  wonder  why  the  capital 
instance  of  this  whole  argument  —  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 

i  Book  V.  7. 

2  For  other  texts  quoted  by  Schultze  the  student  is  referred  to  his  Arehaolo- 
gische  studien,  p.  15  seq.,  and  Archdologie  der  altchristlichen  Kunst,  p.  181. 


PAINTING  — The  Oram  201 

which  the  Scriptures  treat  as  the  most  immediate  proof  of  the 
resurrection  of  his  followers  —  appeared  so  rarely  in  early- 
Christian  art,  and  not  at  all  until  the  fourth  century.  It  is 
to  be  noted  that  some  of  these  subjects  appear  first  on  the 
sarcophagi. 

This- theory  must  not,  however,  be  held  to  account  for  all 
of  i  lie.  symbolical  art  of  the  catacombs,  nor  must  we  supjjo.se 
that  this  art  had  all  of  it  a  funereal  reference.  The  subjects 
even  of  the  cycle  which  we  have  just  considered  had  some  of 
them,  in  addition,  a  very  different  symbolical  import.  It  is 
not  to  be  doubted,  for  example,  that  the  multiplication  of  the 
loaves  was  also  a  symbol  of  the  Eucharist.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  were  many  subjects  quite  outside  this  cycle  which 
from  different  points  of  view  brought  their  own  contributions 
to  the  symbolism  of  the  tomb.  Such  was  the  figure  of  the 
Good  Shepherd,  a  many-sided  symbol  in  which  the  funereal 
reference  was  at  least  incidental.  Such,  too,  were  most  of 
the  symbols  which  Christian  art  inherited  from  the  pagan. 
Orpheus,  the  peacock,  the  phoenix,  the  dolphin,  etc.,  were 
already,  in  Classic  art,  employed  as  sepulchral  symbols  and 
connected  by  mythology  with  the  fate  of  the  soul  after  death. 

"We  have  now  to  consider  in  detail  the  artistic  expression 
of  the  more  important  subjects  included  in  the  cycle  of  divine 
deliverance  and  miracle.  It  will  be  convenient  to  study  here, 
once  for  all,  the  expression  which  was  given  them  in  sculpture 
as  well  as  in  painting. 

THE    OBANS 

The  name  orans,  or  orant,  designates  a  figure  in  the  attitude 
of  prayer,  with  arms  outstretched  in  the  manner  which  was 
common  to  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  was  accounted  by  the 
Church  particularly  significant,  because  it  recalled  the  position 
of  the  Saviour  upon  the  cross.  Portraits  of  the  departed  were, 
in  the  art  of  the  catacombs,  generally  represented  in  this  atti- 
tude (Figs.  85,  124).  "We  can  readily  understand  why  the  Old 
Testament  characters  which  are  taken  as  examples  of  divine 
deliverance  were  also  commonly  represented  in  the  posture  of 
prayer.  The  Scripture  itself  furnished  the  suggestion,  record- 
ing the  prayer  of  Jonah  and  the  song  of  the  Three  Children. 


-Ml'.' 


PICTORIAL   ART 


Noah,  upon  his  deliverance,  immediately  offered  a  sacrifice  of 
thanksgiving;  and  the  attitude  of  prayer  was  qo  less  appropri- 
ate to  tsaac  delivered  from  sacrifice,  to  Daniel  among  the 
Lions,  and  to  Susanna  accused  by  the  elders. 

Bui    though  we  may  apply  the  aai :ans"  in  a  general 

sense  to  portraits  <>l'  the  deceased  and  to  representations  of 
Biblical  characters,  it  is  used  more  specifically  to  denote  the 
artistic  symbol  of  the  souls  of  the  faithful  departed.     It  is  not 

always  possible  to  draw  a  sharp 
line  of  distinction  between  the 
portrait  orans  and  this  symbolical 
abstraction.  Whole  families,  men 
and  women  and  children,  were 
sometimes  portrayed  in  this  pos- 
ture upon  the  wall  of  the  tomb 
where  their  bodies  reposed.  Even 
where  there  was  no  attempt  at  a 
portrait,  the  distinction  of  sex 
was  sometimes  observed.  But  the 
great  majority  of  orants  were  quite 
impersonal  in  their  traits,  and 
equally  so,  whether  they  consti- 
tuted part  of  the  adornment  of  the 
ceiling,  and  represented  the  dis- 
embodied soul  in  general,  or  were 
brought  into  immediate  relation 
with  a  particular  tomb.  The  proof 
of  the  symbolical  character  of  the 
orans  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  was 
generally  represented  by  a  female  figure,  without  regard  to  the 
sex  of  the  deceased.  So,  for  example,  we  find  often  a  female 
figure  painted  above  a  tomb  when  the  inscription  denotes  a 
man.  An  early  lead  medal  in  the  Vatican  Museum  represents 
the  martyrdom  of  S.  Lawrence  and  depicts  a  female  figure  ris- 
ing from  the  body  of  the  saint  to  receive  the  martyr's  crown. 
In  the  Acts  of  SS.  Petrus  and  Marcellinus  :  "  The  executioner 
testified  that  he  saw  their  souls  issue  from  their  bodies  in  the 
form  of  young  virgins,  who  were  adorned  with  gold  and  gems 
and  clad  in  shining  garments,  and  were  carried  to  heaven  by 
the  hand  of  angels."     It  is   impossible  with  any  candor  to 


Fi<;.  04.  —  Orans  i 
crypt  of  Lucina 


palla,  fresco  in  the 
Second  century. 


PAINTING—  The  Orans 


■>u:. 


deny  the  symbolical  significance  of  the  orans.  The  attitude 
of   prayer  comported  with    the  situation  of  the  soul  at  the 

in 'id,  of  death:    if  represented   at  once    thanksgiving    for 

deliverance  from  death,  and  supplication  of  God's  merciful 
judgment.  The  purely  abstract  symbol  was  not  a  development 
out  of  the  portrait  orans,  for  it  appears  among  the  earliest 
types  of  Christian  art.       Upon   the  ceiling   of   the   crypt   of 


Fig.  65.  —  Orans  with  dalmatic  and  veil,  catacomb  of  Callistus.     Third  century. 


Lucina,  which  was  decorated  early  in  the  second  century,  an 
orans  of  a  thoroughly  hieratic  type  (Fig.  64)  is  twice  repre- 
sented, alternating  with  the  figure  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  In 
this  case,  the  figure  is  clothed  in  the  palla.  But  it  is  the 
posture  and  sex,  not  the  costume,  which  denotes  the  orans. 
The  costume,  in  fact,  varied,  and  it  registers  the  changes  of 
female  fashion  in  dress,  from  century  to  century  (Figs.  64,  65, 
66).     It  will  readily  be  seen  that  "the  Old  Testament  heroes  of 


2(11 


riCToiilAL    AItT 


deliverance  who  were  repiesented  in  this  posture,  were  thereby 
broughl   into  relation  with  this  symbolism,  and  their  signifi- 
cance as  types  of  the  resurrec- 

t  inn  was  made  more  abundantly 
plain. 

The  orans  of  the  catacomb 
frescos  was  reproduced  in  the 
sculptures  of  the  sarcophagi. 
This  symbol  had  no  doubt  its 
influence  upon  the  mediaeval 
representation  of  the  soul  as 
a  diminutive  body  issuing  from 
the  mouth  of  the  dying  to  be  re- 
ceived by  angels,  or  by  demons, 
as  the  case  demanded. 

OLD    TESTAMEXT    CHARACTERS 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
we  have  here  to  do  solely  with 
the  Old  Testament  characters 
who  were  regarded  as  types  of 
deliverance  from  death.  But 
though  we  have  this  symbolism 
primarily  in  view,  we  shall  not 
neglect  to  consider  other  sym- 
bolical notions  which  were  asso- 
ciated with  these  same  subjects. 
It  is  doubtful  wdiether  Adam  and  Eve  properly  belong  to 
this  cycle,  or  what  precisely  their  significance  may  be  in  Chris- 
tian art.  They  appeared  very  early  in  the  catacombs  of  S. 
Gennaro  at  Xaples,  where  they  were  associated  with  the  myth- 
ological decoration  of  an  early  crypt.  But  at  Rome  the  sub- 
ject did  not  become  popular  till  the  fourth  century,  after 
which  time  it  was  employed  very  frequently  upon  the  sar- 
cophagi and  upon  the  gold-glasses.  The  creation  of  man  is 
represented  but  three  times  ;  the  best-known  example  is  upon  a 
sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  (Fig.  95).  The  theme  commonly 
chosen  is  the  temptation  :  in  the  midst  is  the  tree  with  the 
serpent  coiled  about  it,  and  on  either  hand  stand  Adam  and 


Fig.  66.  —  Orans  with  girdled  tunic  and 
veil,  fresco  in  the  catacomb  of  Thrason. 
Fourth  century. 


PAINTING  — Noah  206 

Eve,  endeavoring  to  hide  their  nakedness  with  a  leaf.  Very 
commonly  the  man  and  woman  are  accompanied  by  the  sym- 
bols of  their  respective  labor:  a  sheaf  of  wheat  represents  the 
work  of  the  husbandman,  a  lamb  signifies  the  woman's  work  of 
weaving  (Fig.  100).  In  some  cases  (Figs.  95,  08)  the  figure  of 
Christ  appears  between  them,  allotting  to  each  their  labor. 
Fve  appears  sometimes  upon  the  gold-glasses  with  hair  richly 
dressed,  and  wearing  bracelets  and  arm  bands  (Fig.  163). 
Several  sarcophagi  represent  the  exclusion  from  paradise. 

The  subject  of  Noah  appeared  as  early  as  the  end  of  the 
first  century,  and  it  was  frequently  employed  in  the  art  of  the 
catacombs  during  the  second  and  third.  The  earliest  instance 
is  in  the  vestibule  of  the  catacomb  of  Domitilla,  where,  how- 
ever, the  only  vestige  of  the  picture  which  remains  is  the  dove 
bearing  the  olive  branch. 

The  subject  was  so  simple  in  its  treatment,  and  it  was  re- 
peated with  so  little  variation,  that  it  requires  few  words  of 
description.  The  representation  is  in  the  highest  degree  ab- 
breviated: Noah  stands  alone  and  in  the  posture  of  an  orans 
in  a  small  cubical  chest  which  floats  upon  the  waves,  while  the 
dove  flies  toward  him  with  the  olive  branch.  In  only  one 
instance,  a  sarcophagus  in  Treves,  is  the  whole  family  repre- 
sented in  the  ark,  with  various  birds  and  beasts.  Sometimes  a 
lad,  or  even  a  female  orans,  appears  in  the  place  of  Noah,  more 
clearly  indicating  the  typical  character  of  the  subject. 

It  is  very  curious  that  the  ark  is  represented  in  this  same 
form  on  a  coin  of  Septimius  Severus  stamped  in  Apamea  in 
Phrygia  (Fig.  79).  In  this  case  Noah  and  his  wife  are  twice 
depicted,  at  one  moment  receiving  the  dove  in  the  ark,  in 
another  standing  upon  the  land  and  offering  a  prayer  of  thanks- 
giving for  deliverance.  It  has  been  shown  that  there  was  a 
strong  Jewish  colony  in  this  town,  and  the  fact  that  it  lay 
under  the  shadow  of  Mt.  Ararat  suggested  this  theme. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  form  which  is  here  given  to  the 
ark  was  suggested  by  some  prototype  in  Classical  art,  perhaps 
by  the  chest  in  which  Danae  and  Perseus  were  set  adrift. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  monuments  themselves  to  indicate 
whether  any  other  symbolism  was  intended  beyond  that  which 
we  have  traced.  But  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  in  the  first 
Epistle  of  S.  Peter  the  ark  is  treated  as  a  symbol  of  baptism, 


206  VK-TOllIAL    Ah'T 

and  thai  Tertullian,  elaborating  this  figure,  made  the  ark  a  sym- 
bol of  the  <  'liuivh. 

Tlie  dove  and  the  olive  branch  —  or  the  olive  branch  alone  — 
became  a  still  more  abbreviated  symbol  of  deliverance  and  of 
peace. 

We  have  seen  that  Moses' deliverance  from  the  hand  of  Pharaoh 
was  one  of  the  subjects  which  appears  in  the  liturgies  as  a  type 
of  the  resurrection.  There  is  evidently  no  single  dramatic  in- 
cident which  expressed  this  deliverance ;  various  episodes  of 
Moses'  life,  however,  were  frequently  depicted  in  fresco  and 
sculpture.  His  colloquy  with  God  at  the  burning  bush  was 
conventionally  abbreviated  almost  beyond  recognition ;  even 
the  bush  was  dispensed  with,  and  Moses  appears  with  one  foot 
raised  upon  a  rock  bending  over  to  take  off  his  shoe.  This, 
according  to  Wilpert,  stands  for  the  believer  who  prepares 
after  death  to  appear  before  the  presence  of  God.  Especially 
common  on  the  sarcophagi  was  the  scene  in  which  Moses  re- 
ceives the  tables  of  the  Law  from  a  hand  stretched  out  of  a 
cloud.  Most  frequent  of  all,  and  especially  in  the  art  of  the 
catacombs,  was  the  striking  of  water  from  the  rock.  The  mode 
of  representation  was  practically  the  same  in  painting  and  in 
sculpture ;  it  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  96,  and  at  the  lower  right- 
hand  corner  of  two  sarcophagi  which  are  shown  in  Figs.  95  and 
98.  On  the  sarcophagi  this  subject  often  balanced  the  resur- 
rection of  Lazarus.  This  was  doubtless  due  chiefly  to  the 
desire  for  symmetry  ;  but  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  Moses 
was  regarded  as  a  type  of  Christ,  as  the  water  also  was  a  sym- 
bol of  baptism. 

It  is  claimed  by  Roman  archaeologists  that  in  the  fourth 
century  Moses  was  represented  with  the  facial  traits  which 
were  traditionally  ascribed  to  Peter.  A  gold-glass  in  the  Vati- 
can which  represents  the  striking  of  water  from  the  rock  is 
inscribed  with  the  name  Petrus.  The  artisans  who  made  such 
wares  frequently  fell  into  error  in  attaching  names  to  the 
subjects  which  they  represented ;  but  as  this  is  not  the  only 
instance  in  which  the  name  of  Peter  is  attached  to  the  figure 
of  Moses,  it  is  probable  that  a  parallel  was  sometimes  drawn 
between  the  chief  of  the  Apostles  and  the  chief  figure  of  Jew- 
ish history. 

No  subject  was  so  popular  in  the  art  of  the  catacombs  as  the 


PAINTING  —  foitah  207 

story  of  Jonah.  It  not  only  furnished  the  most  striking  sym- 
bol of  the  resurrection,  and  one  which  Christ  himself  appealed 
to,  but  it  provided  the  best  field  for  the  exercise  of  the  artist's 
fantasy.  There  are  about  forty  instances  of  it  among  the  paint- 
ings, and  it  was  repeated  also  in  sculpture,  although  in  the 
latter  case  it  presented  manifest  difficulties.  The  artistic  ex- 
pression of  this  theme  was  subject  to  a  good  deal  of  variety  in 
detail,  but  the  sarcophagus  illustrated  in  Fig.  94  shows  sub- 
stantially the  mode  in  which  it  was  treated  both  in  fresco  and 
in  sculpture  (see  also  Fig.  164). 

The  story  was  represented  in  three  scenes :  the  first  was 
that  in  which  the  prophet  was  cast  out  of  the  ship  into  the 
mouth  of  the  sea  monster;  in  the  second  he  is  cast  up  by 
the  monster  upon  the  land ;  and  in  the  third  he  reposes  under 
the  gourd.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  monster  is  not  a  fish, 
but  one  of  the  fabulous  dragons  which  were  common  in  Roman 
art;  it  is  probably  most  closely  related  to  the  dragon  from 
which  Andromeda  was  delivered.  This  theme,  too,  was  some- 
times abbreviated  by  dropping  one  or  more  of  the  three  scenes; 
or  space  was  economized,  as  in  Fig.  98,  by  crowding  the  scenes 
so  together  that  Jonah  is  spit  out  by  the  monster  directly  under 
the  gourd.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  the  scene  which  is 
generally  retained  and  often  quite  alone  (Fig.  155)  is  that  in 
which  the  prophet  rests  under  the  gourd.  It  is  evident  that 
this  was  the  most  essential  feature  of  the  symbolism,  and  we 
have  therefore  to  recognize  that  the  original  significance  of  the 
gourd,  according  to  the  text,  was  neglected,  and  the  naked  fig- 
ure of  Jonah  reposing  under  its  shade  was  regarded  as  a  sym- 
bol of  the  soul  in  the  joy  of  paradise  after  being  delivered  from 
the  dangers  and  the  pains  of  death.  It  is  to  be  remarked  that 
even  under  the  gourd  Jonah  is  always  represented  naked.  That 
he  should  be  so  represented  when  cast  into  the  sea  was  alto- 
gether natural,  but  the  story  furnishes  no  reason  for  it  in  the 
case  of  his  sleep  under  the  gourd,  since  that  followed  upon  his 
successful  preaching  to  the  Ninevites.  It  seems  probable  that 
the  nakedness  was  in  this  case  altogether  in  the  interest  of  the 
symbol,  to  represent  the  ideal  state  of  bliss  in  paradise.  The 
posture  suggests  Endymion. 

When  one  considers  the  great  number  of  nude  or  half-nude 
figures  in  Classic  art,  one  cannot  but  be  struck  with  their  rarity 


208  PICTORIAL  ART 

among  the  <  'hrist  ian  monuments.  There  was  certainly  no  rigid 
scruple  against  the  art  of  the  nude,  but  there  was  as  little  pre- 
dilection  for  it.  Eve  was  the  only  nude  female  figure  known 
to  early  Christian  art.  Susanna  was  represented  clothed, 
not  surprised  at  her  bath,  as  the  artists  of  the  Renascence  de- 
lighted to  depict  her.  Daniel  was  generally,  though  not  always, 
naked ;  Adam  and  Jonah  were  always  so.  We  have  to  add  to 
this,  occasional  pictures  of  Tobias,  or  of  a  fisherman,  several 
representations  of  Isaac  sacrificed,  and  of  the  vision  of  Ezekiel, 
one  of  the  martyrdom  of  Isaiah,  one  of  Christ  baptized,  and 
two  of  Christ  upon  the  cross.  These  rare  representations  of 
the  nude  are  interesting,  especially  in  sculpture,  as  affording  a 
gauge  of  the  technical  capacity  of  art ;  they  prove  what  it  was 
still  capable  of  in  the  fourth  century,  and  how  utterly  impotent 
it  had  become  by  the  fifth. 

A  subject  equally  familiar  in  the  catacombs  and  on  the  sar- 
cophagi was  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac.  The  moment  commonly 
represented  is  that  in  which  Abraham  stands  ready  with  a 
knife  to  slay  his  son,  who  with  hands  bound  kneels  upon  or 
beside  an  altar.  A  hand  from  heaven  arrests  the  act,  and  the 
ram  appears  to  replace  the  sacrifice.  The  mode  in  which  this 
subject  was  represented  is  shown  in  the  upper  left-hand  corner 
of  the  sarcophagus  of  Junius  Bassus  (Fig.  100).  It  was  very 
often  balanced  by  the  receiving  of  the  Law,  as  in  Fig.  99.  This, 
we  have  seen,  was  one  of  the  symbols  of  deliverance.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  subject  was  also  regarded  as  typical  of 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  but  how  far  this  idea  was  associated 
with  the  artistic  expression  of  the  theme  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing.  It  seems,  however,  that  this  must  have  been  in 
the  mind  of  the  artist  who  in  the  third  century  represented 
this  theme  in  connection  with  the  Eucharistic  symbols  in  the 
Sacrament  Chapels  of  S.  Callistus,  and  it  certainly  was  in- 
tended in  the  sixth-century  mosaic  of  S.  Vital e  (Fig.  133). 

Still  more  common  was  the  subject  of  Daniel  among  the 
lions.  It  appears  for  the  first  time  at  the  end  of  the  first 
century  in  the  vestibule  of  S.  Domitilla.  The  picture  repre- 
sents a  young  man  clad  in  a  short  tunic,  with  arms  extended 
in  prayer  and  eyes  raised  to  heaven,  while  a  lion  approaches 
on  either  side.  With  this  early  example,  the  form  was  already 
fixed,  as  it  appears  constantly  in  the  frescos  and  in  sculpture 


PAINTING— Daniel  209 

(Figs.  05, 98, 09, 100), — only, as  was  remarked  above,  the  figure  of 

1  >;miel  was  commonly  naked.  <  Jenerally  the  pro]. lift  1  hikikkuk 
appears  at  his  side  offering  him  bread,  —  a  whole  loaf,  nol  bread 
broken  into  pottage,  as  the  story  has  it.  As  the  loaf  is  often 
marked  with  the  cross  I  Fig.  08),  it  seems  evident  that  it  had  a 
mystic  reference  to  the  Eucharist,  The  great  popularity  of 
this  subject  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  it  represented 
the  fate  of  so  many  Christian  martyrs.  The  manner  in  which 
the  martyrs  were  exposed  to  the  beasts  in  the  Roman  amphi- 
theatre sometimes  influenced  the  mode  in  which  the  subject  of 
Daniel  was  depicted.  It  is  not  certain  whether  the  clay  lamp 
illustrated  in  Fig.  151  represents  Daniel  or  a  Christian  mar- 
tyr ;  but  it  is  evident  that  it  represents  realistically  the  man- 
ner in  which  Christians  were  actually  exposed  to  the  lions.  In 
Fig.  160,  which  illustrates  a  fragment  of  a  cut-glass  vase  of 
the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century,  there  appears  at  the  right 
a  part  of  just  such  a  platform  as  is  shown  in  the  previous  fig- 
ure ;  and  the  intention  here  is  evidently  to  represent  Daniel, 
for  Habakkuk  appears  above,  while  on  the  left  is  the  sacrifice 
of  Isaac,  and  below  the  Israelites  marching  through  the  desert 
with  their  eyes  fixed  upon  the  cloud,  of  fire. 

Another  scene  in  which  Daniel  frequently  appears  is  that  in 
which  he  slew  the  dragon  (Figs.  163,  166).  The  dragon  is 
represented  in  a  form  similar  to  the  serpent  which  tempted  Eve. 

One  may  readily  notice  how  closely  some  of  the  other  exam- 
ples of  deliverance  correspond  with  forms  of  martyrdom  which 
were  actually  suffered  by  the  Christians.  It  was  only  in  this 
indirect  way  that  scenes  of  Christian  martyrdom  were  depicted, 
for  in  the  first  three  centuries  there  were  no  express  represen- 
tations of  such  themes.  Scenes  of  pain  and  of  horror  were 
altogether  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  early  Christian  art.  "We 
shall  have  occasion  to  notice  later  that  representations  of  our 
Lord's  Passion  do  not  appear  before  the  fifth  century  and  were 
altogether  exceedingly  rare  throughout  the  early  period.  The 
earliest  representation  of  a  martyrdom  belongs  to  the  latter 
part  of  the  fourth  century;  it  is  found,  on  a  fragment  of  one  of 
the  columns  of  the  ciborium  of  the  basilica  of  SS.  Xereus  and. 
Achilleus  (Fig.  22).  It  represents  Achilleus  standing  with 
hands  bound  behind  him  ready  to  receive  upon  his  neck  the 
executioner's   sword.      In   the   background   is  the  cross   sur- 


210 


PICTORIAL   AST 


mounted  by  the  crown.  Another  scene  was  painted  about  the 
same  time  in  the  house  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo  in  Rome:  three 
martyrs  are  kneeling  blindfold  upon  the  ground,  while  the 
executioners  stand  behind  ready  to  strike  with  the  sword. 
Beside  these  there  are  almost  no  other  such  scenes  within  our 
period. 

Closely  related  to  Daniel  were  the  stories  of  Susanna 
and  of  the  Three  Children  in  the  furnace.  Susanna  was 
often    represented  standing   like  an  orans   between    the   two 

accusing  elders. 
Sometimes  Dan- 
iel appears  as 
judge  and.  deliv- 
erer (Fig.  67).  In 
the  Capella  greca 
in  S.  Priscilla  the 
story  is  depicted 
with  unusual 
dramatic  interest 
and  in  several 
scenes.  In  the 
cemetery  of  Pre- 
textatus  there 
is  a  painting 
which  represents 
a  lamb  between 
two  wolves,  and 
the  inscription 
informs  us  that  we  have  before  us  Susanna  and  the  elders. 

Far  more  frequent  both  in  the  frescos  and  on  the  sarcophagi 
were  the  Three  Children  of  Babylon.  They  are  commonly 
represented  standing  in  the  attitude  of  prayer  amidst  the 
flames  of  a  furnace  which  is  fed  below  by  an  attendant. 
Sometimes  a  fourth  person,  evidently  the  Lord,  appears  in 
their  midst.  They  are  always  clothed  in  the  Phrygian  cos- 
tume, which  was  used  in  Roman  art  to  denote  the  inhabitants 
of  the  extreme  Orient.  This  was  probably  the  suggestion 
which  led  to  their  association  with  the  Three  Magi  from  the 
East  who  followed  the  star  to  Bethlehem,  for  they  also  were 
represented  in  the  same  costume. 


Fig. 


—  Susanna  and  the  elders  judged  by  Daniel,  fresco  in 
the  catacomb  of  Callistus.     Second  century. 


PAINTING—  The  Magi 


211 


This  brings  before  us  a  curious,  but  characteristic  trail  of 
early  Christian  symbolism;  for  these  two  subjects  were  no1 
,,nl\  compared,  but  in  a  certain  sense  confused,  in  art.  This 
appears  in  many  instances  upon  the  sarcophagi,  and  always  in 
substantially  the  form  which  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  89.  In  this 
case  the  Three  Children  arc  represented  in  the  act  of  refusing 
to  worship  the  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  On  the  other  side 
the  Magi,  similarly  clad,  offer  their  gifts  to  the  infant  Jesus. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Three  Children  turning  away  from 
the  image  are  pointing  to  a  star,  and  are  thus  brought  into  still 


Fig.  6S.  —  Visit  of  the  Magi,  fresco  in  the  catacomb  of  Petrus  and  Marcellinus.     Third 

century. 

closer  relation  with  the  Magi.  One  point  of  connection  was 
doubtless  the  refusal  of  the  Magi  to  listen  to  Herod's  com- 
mand. But  besides  this  there  was  a  deeper  thought,  for  Neb- 
uchadnezzar was  regarded  as  the  type  of  the  persecuting 
emperors,  and  it  will  be  seen  how  admirably  balanced  these 
two  subjects  are  when  it  is  remembered  that  it  was  the  refusal 
to  worship  the  emperor  instead  of  Christ  which  was  the  Chris- 
tians' chief  offence  against  the  State,  and  the  cause  of  the 
majority  of  martyrdoms.  The  star  to  which  the  Three  Chil- 
dren point  represents  the  true  worship  as  opposed  to  idolatry, 
for  it  is  the  symbol  of  Christ.  The  star  was  conventionally 
represented  by  three  lines  intersecting  at  equal  angles,  and  in 
this  figure  the  Christians  saw  at  once  a  symbol  of  the  cross 


212  PICTORIAL   ART 

and  the  initial  letters  of  flu:  name  'I^o-oPs  Xptoros.  This  form  of 
monogram  appears  long  before  Constantine,  and  we  may  sup- 
pose that  the  Constantinian  monogram  was  suggested  by  it. 
On  one  sarcophagus  the  star  to  which  the  Three  Children  point 
has  the  form  of  the  Constantinian  monogram. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  number  of  the  Magi  was  fixed 
chiefly  with  reference  to  this  association.  This  is  at  least 
more  probable  than  that  it  was  due  to  the  number  of  gifts 
which  they  bore  —  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh.  The  sub- 
ject of  the  Magi  was  a  very  common  one  in  the  catacombs  as 
well  as  in  sculpture  and  mosaic.  The  number  three  appears 
in  the  earliest  instance  —  the  Capella  greca  in  S.  Priscilla 
(Fig.  3).  But  very  commonly  an  even  number  of  Magi  were 
represented  for  the  sake  of  symmetry  —  two  (Fig.  68),  four,  or 
in  one  instance  six.  The  number  three  became  definitely  fixed 
in  the  fourth  century,  and  it  was  invariable  on  the  sarcophagi 
and  in  the  mosaics  (Fig.  139).  In  Fig.  86  the  wise  men  and  a 
shepherd  appear  together  at  the  manger,  where  the  ox  and  the 
ass  which  are  mentioned  in  an  apocryphal  Gospel  have  also 
their  place.  It  is  as  an  incident  to  the  story  of  the  Magi 
that  we  have  the  earliest  representations  of  the  Virgin  and 
Child.  It  is  probable  that  this  subject  was  then  understood,  as 
it  certainly  was  later,  to  represent  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles. 

There  were  no  other  Old  Testament  subjects  so  frequently 
depicted  as  those  which  we  have  just  studied.  Lack  of  space 
prohibits  the  particular  consideration  of  more  of  them  here, 
though  some  will  be  noticed  incidentally  as  they  appear  in 
sculpture.  David  with  his  sling  appears  in  but  one  fresco,  Job 
is  seldom  represented  in  the  catacombs,  only  once  the  transla- 
tion of  Elijah,  though  several  times  on  sarcophagi  (Fig.  97). 
Tobias  with  his  fish  is  represented  graphically  in  the  catacomb 
of  Thrason ;  on  the  other  hand  the  vision  of  Ezekiel,  which 
was  peculiarly  appropriate  to  sepulchral  decoration,  does  not 
appear  at  all  in  the  catacombs,  and  only  a  few  times  on  the 
sarcophagi.  This  very  nearly  exhausts  the  types  of  deliver- 
ance so  far  as  they  were  drawn  from  the  Old  Testament.  We 
have  now  to  consider  the  miracles  of  Christ  from  this  same 
point  of  view. 


PAINTTNff  —  MimrlPH  of  Christ  213 


THE    MIRACLES    <»K    CHRIST 


In  the  art  of  the  catacombs  a  somewhat  arbitrary  selection 
was  made  of  the  miracles  of  Christ;  some  themes  were  re- 
peated again  and  again,  while  others  found   only  here   and 

there  a  ehanee  notice.  It  must  suffice  to  notice  here  the 
subjects  which  were  the  most  common,  and,  important  as  they 
were,  they  require  but  few  words  of  description.  It,  is  neces- 
sary here  again  to  rely  for  illustrations  chiefly  upon  the  sar- 
cophagi ;  the  scenes  were  treated  with  equal  simplicity  and  with 
like  abbreviation  in  the  frescos. 

The  raising  of  Lazarus  was  the  most  important  of  these 
subjects,  since  it  most  directly  testified  to  the  power  of  God 
to  raise  the  dead  at  the  resurrection.  The  form  is  always 
substantially  the  same  (Figs.  18  and  95,  upper  right-hand  cor- 
ner) :  Lazarus  wrapped  like  a  mummy  stands  erect  in  the 
entrance  of  a  temple-like  tomb,  and  Christ  stretches  toward 
him  the  rod  which  symbolizes  his  power.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  in  almost  all  of  the  representations  of  his  miracles  Christ, 
like  Moses,  carries  a  magic  wand  or  rod.  Since  the  motive 
was  a  symbolical  and  not  an  historical  one,  this  miracle  stood 
for  others  of  like  character.  The  raising  of  the  widow's  son 
does  not  appear  in  the  art  of  the  catacombs.  As  the  artists 
were  interested  (especially  in  the  case  of  the  sarcophagi)  in 
crowding  as  many  subjects  as  possible  in  a  small  space,  a 
specimen  of  each  kind  of  miracle  sufficed. 

So  it  was  in  the  case  of  the  healing  of  the  blind.  Christ  is 
represented  placing  his  finger  upon  the  eyes  of  a  single  blind 
man  (Fig.  98),  but  which  particular  act  of  healing  this  was  the 
artist  had  no  interest  in  specifying.  According  to  a  well- 
established  principle  of  Classic  art,  subordinate  personages, 
such  as  those  who  were  craving  Christ's  assistance,  were  repre- 
sented in  minute  proportions,  and  the  blind  men  look  conse- 
quently like  little  children.  Christ's  gesture  in  healing  the 
blind  man  has  been  sometimes  misunderstood,  and  the  scene 
has  been  misinterpreted  as  a  representation  of  Christ  blessing 
little  children,  —  a  subject  which,  strange  as  it  may  appear, 
never  occurs  in  early  Christian  art. 

A  female  figure,  often  exceedingly  minute,  crouching  at  the 
feet  of  Christ  and  touching  his  garment  or  his  hand,  is  the 


214  riCTOh'lAL    AllT 

woman  who  was  healed  of  an  issue  of  blood  (Figs.  95,  90). 
Equally  simple,  bul  more  distinctly  characterized,  was  the 
figure  of  the  paralytic.  It  was  very  common  both  in  the 
frescos  and  <>n  the  sarcophagi,  but  there  happens  to  be  no 
illustration  of  it  in  this  book,  except  on  a  gold-glass  (Fig.  108), 
which  groups  together  a  number  of  the  subjects  which  we 
have  just  been  studying.1  To  represent  this  miracle  nothing 
more  was  necessary  than  the  figure  of  a  man  carrying  his  bed. 
There  is  nothing  to  denote  whether  it  was  the  man  healed  at 
Capernaum,  or  him  of  the  pool  Betliesda;  it  probably  was 
intended  to  represent  both  at  once.  The  multiplication  of 
the  loaves  and  fishes  was  in  the  catacombs  represented  in 
various  wrays  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  study  later; 
on  the  sarcophagi  the  treatment  is  stereotyped  :  Christ  stretches 
out  his  rod  over  the  baskets,  or  he  touches  with  his  hands  the 
bread  and  fishes  which  are  presented  to  him  by  two  Apostles 
(Fig.  95).  In  the  transformation  of  the  water  into  wine  he 
touches  with  his  rod  the  waterpots  (Fig.  95).  These  twro 
miracles  had  more  especially  a  relation  to  the  Eucharist,  and 
they  will  be  noticed  again  in  another  place. 

In  Fig.  72  Christ  is  represented  with  the  Samaritan  woman 
at  the  well ;  and  the  same  scene  is  several  times  reproduced 
in  fresco  and  in  sculpture. 

THE    GOOD    SHEPHERD 

There  were  various  myths  current  in  early  times,  and  com- 
monly believed,  about  miraculous  portraits  of  Christ.  There 
was,  in  the  first  place,  the  napkin  writh  the  impression  of  his 
own  face  which  our  Lord  himself  was  supposed  to  have  sent 
to  Abgar,  king  of  Edessa.  Closely  related  to  that  was  the 
Veronica  portrait,  about  which  there  were  divers  traditions. 
As  no  one  any  longer  supposes  that  these  were  actual  portraits, 
their  sole  interest  lies  in  the  proof  that  the  effort  was  actually 
made  in  early  times  to  produce  an  ideal  representation  of  the 
face  of  Christ.  In  the  loss  of  these  pictures  it  remains  im- 
possible to' determine  whether  or  not  they  had  any  influence 
in  the  determination  of  the  type  of  head  which  was  commonly 

1  After  the  paralytic  comes  Moses  striking  the  rock,  then  the  sacrifice  of 
Isaac,  Adam  and  Eve,  and  the  raising  of  Lazarus. 


PAINTING— The  Good  Shepherd  216 

represented  in  the  fifth  century.  The  presumption  is  that 
they  had  not,  and  that  there  was  no  fixed  tradition  to  hamper 
the  artists  in  the  expression  of  their  own  ideal,  for  this  varied 
freely,  and  was  marked  by  three  distinct  types  which  belong 
to  the  fourth,  the  fifth,  and  the  sixth  centuries  respectively. 
Historically  attested  are  the  images  of  Christ  (made  of  glass, 
gold,  or  silver)  which  one  of  the  Gnostic  sects  venerated  along 
with  images  of  the  philosophers  Pythagoras,  Plato,  and  Aris- 
totle. And  it  is  known  that  the  Emperor  Alexander  Severus 
placed  in  his  lararium  and  honored  with  sacrifice  the  images 
—  probably  medallions  —  of  Christ,  of  Abraham,  and  of  Or- 
pheus. In  neither  of  these  cases  is  there  any  suspicion  of  a 
portrait.  Of  more  importance  is  Eusebius's  account  of  the 
bronze  statue  in  Csesarea  Philippi.  It  represented  the  standing 
figure  of  a  man  clothed  in  the  pallium  and  stretching  out  his 
hand  to  a  woman  who  kneeled  at  his  feet.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  this  was  regarded 
as  a  representation  of  the  Lord,  and  that  it  was  believed  to 
have  been  erected  out  of  gratitude  to  him  by  the  woman  whom 
he  had  healed  of  an  issue  of  blood.  This  derivation  of  the 
statue  is  commonly  rejected  by  historians,  and  it  is  explained 
rather  as  the  statue  of  an  emperor  receiving  the  submission 
of  a  province.  But  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  Eusebius,  who 
himself  saw  the  statue,  could  have  failed  to  detect  in  it  so 
common  a  theme  of  Roman  art  as  the  statue  of  an  emperor. 
The  statue  was  removed  from  its  public  position  by  Maxi- 
minus  Daza  out  of  hatred  to  Christianity,  and  was  finally 
destroyed  by  Julian.  It  is  hardly  to  be  thought  that  these 
emperors  could  have  mistaken  its  true  character,  if  it  were 
actually  of  pagan  origin ;  and  there  must  remain  at  least  the 
suspicion  that  the  tradition  was  correct. 

When  we  turn  from  mythical  or  historical  accounts  to  the  exist- 
ing monuments  of  early  art,  the  spirit  in  which  the  early  Church 
regarded  the  representations  of  Christ  seems  obvious  and  un- 
equivocal. There  were  not  only  no  representations  which  had  any 
suggestion  of  realism  or  of  portraiture,  but  till  the  middle  of 
the  fourth  century  not  even  an  idealistic  conception  seems  to 
have  been  so  much  as  attempted.  In  the  earliest  cases  in  which 
our  Lord  appears  he  is  depicted  as  an  infant  in  the  arms  of 
his  mother,  and  it  is  evident  that  he  appears  only  as  an  inci- 


216 


PICTOBIAL   Airr 


dent  to  the  scene — as  in  the  visit  of  the  Magi,  etc.  It  may  be 
said,  too,  that  in  the  representations  of  the  miracles  his  pres- 
ence was  equally  incidental;  it  was  required  to  determine  the 
subject,  jusl  as  the  presence  of  God  in  the  Old  Testament  won- 
ders was  symbolized  by  the  hand  stretched  from  heaven.  In 
this  case  the  artists  implicitly  intimated  that  they  had  no  in- 
tention  of  representing  Christ  as  he  actually  was,  or  as  the 
Church  might   like  to   conceive  him.     They  represented  him 


Fig.  69.  —  The  Good  Shepherd,  fresco  decoration  of  a  ceiling  in  the  catacomb  of  Petrus  and 
Marcellinus.     Third  century. 


under  the  figure  of  a  very  young  man,  beardless,  and  without 
any  such  marked  personal  traits  as  were  early  ascribed  to 
Peter  and  Paul.  The  figure  of  Christ  is,  in  fact,  to  be  distin- 
guished only  by  the  situation  in  which  he  is  represented  — 
the  performance  of  his  miracles  —  and  by  the  pallium,  in  which 
generally  only  he  and  the  Apostles  and  Moses  were  clad. 

But  beside  these  incidental  expressions  it  is  evident  that  the 
Church  did  desire  an  artistic  representation  of  Christ,  and  that 
this  was  attained  in  the  symbolical  figure  of  the  Good  Shep- 


PAINTING— The  Good  Shepherd  217 

herd.  This,  it  is  well  known,  was  one  of  the  commonest  fig- 
ures in  early  Christian  art;  and  from  the  second  to  the  fourth 
century  it  was  beyond  comparison  the  most  favorite  represen- 
tation of  Christ.  It  appears  for  the  first  time  in  the  early  part 
of  t  lie  second  century  in  the  crypt  of  Lucina ;  and  later  very  fre- 
quently in  frescos,  on  sarcophagi,  and  as  an  independent  statue, 
upon  gold-glass,  upon  rings,  upon  medals,  and  in  almost  every 
branch  of  art.  Nothing  could  have  comported  better  than  this 
symbol  with  the  spirit  of  early  Christian  art,  and  the  mode  in 
which  it  was  treated  was  highly  characteristic.  When  this 
subject  is  represented  in  our  modern  art  the  character  of  the 
shepherd  is  but  a  slender  disguise;  it  may  be  denoted  by  noth- 
ing more  than  by  the  fact  that  he  carries  a  lamb  and  has  the 
shepherd's  crook,  while  for  the  rest  it  is  the  ideal  face  and 
figure  with  which  we  are  accustomed  to  depict  Jesus  in  all  the 
scenes  of  his  earthly  life.  There  Avas  nothing  like  this  in  the 
art  of  the  catacombs ;  the  symbol  was  frankly  carried  out,  —  it 
was  a  symbol  and  no  whit  more.  The  insufficiency  of  art  to 
portray  in  realistic  terms  the  figure  of  the  God-man  was  clearly 
recognized,  as  we  have  seen,  and  this  feeling  was  frankly  ex- 
pressed by  a  form  of  representation  which  could  not  even  sug- 
gest the  idea  of  a  physical  likeness.  What  was  represented 
in  the  catacombs  was  just  such  a  shepherd  as  might  be  seen 
in  the  campagna  about  Eome,  a  beardless  lad  of  some  sixteen 
years,  clad  in  the  short  sleeveless  tunic  of  the  laborer,  with 
his  right  shoulder  bare,  sometimes  with  feet  and  legs  bare  also, 
sometimes  with  shoes  and  stout  leggins.  There  was  a  perfect 
realism  about  the  representation,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  a 
certain  idyllic  graciousness  —  it  has  been  not  unjustly  called  an 
hieratic  trait — which  distinguishes  it  from  the  same  subject 
as  it  appeared  in  pagan  art.  The  statue  in  the  Lateran  is  alto- 
gether the  finest  example  of  the  Good  Shepherd  (Fig.  117) :  with 
both  hands  he  holds  a  sheep  upon  his  shoulders ;  one  shoulder 
is  quite  bare,  for  he  wears  the  tunica  exomis,  which  is  girded 
up  to  the  knees,  as  it  commonly  was ;  at  his  side  he  carries  the 
shepherd's  scrip.  The  gold-glasses  which  are  given  in  Fig.  162 
show  common  varieties  of  the  subject,  and  illustrate  different 
ways  of  holding  the  sheep.  They  exhibit  also  the  short  cape 
which  seems  to  have  been  a  familiar  feature  of  the  shepherd's 
attire.     In  two  instances  the   shepherd  has   leggins ;  in  one, 


218  PICTOBIAL   ART 

the  fool  and  logs  are  bare.  The  head  is  always  bare.  As  here, 
so  also  in  fche  other  art  of  the  catacombs  (  Figs.  12, 13, 14, 1(5, 17, 
GO),  the  figure  was  often  balanced  by  two  or  more  sheep  at  the 
shepherd's  feet.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  one  of  these  gold- 
classes  the  shepherd  is  not  pictured  carrying  back  the  wounded 
sheep  to  the  fold,  but  is  sitting  and  tending  his  Hock.  Repre- 
sentations of  the  shepherd  tending  his  flock  occur  some  twenty 
times  in  the  catacombs,  in  frescos  and  graffiti.  In  Fig.  19,  for 
example,  he  is  represented  with  his  shepherd's  staff  in  his 
hand,  seated  under  a  tree  and  playing  upon  the  pipes,  while 
the  single  sheep  in  the  scene  looks  attentively  up  at  him. 

Nothing  could  be  plainer  than  this  symbolism,  nothing  more 
gracious  and  touching.  This  whole  range  of  meaning  was 
expressed  by  our  Lord  himself,1  and  it  was  appreciated  in  its 
fullest  extent  in  early  art.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  in 
the  catacombs  and  upon  the  sarcophagi,  the  figure  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  had  especially  a  sepulchral  reference.  It  represented, 
of  course,  the  faithful  care  of  the  divine  Shepherd  in  seeking 
the  souls  which  had  strayed  into  sin,  and  bearing  them  back 
to  his  Church ;  but  it  also  represented  his  power  to  bear  aloft 
to  his  heavenly  kingdom  the  soul  which  was  wounded,  weary, 
and  bruised  with  the  struggle  here  below.  This  was  suggested 
by  the  familiar  words  of  the  Twenty-third  Psalm  :  "  Though 
I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  I  shall  fear 
no  evil,  for  thou  art  with  me,  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  com- 
fort me."  And  this  reference  is  expressed  plainly  in  many  of 
the  prayers  of  the  Church,  for  example,  in  "  the  prayer  after 
burial "  of  the  Gelasian  Sacramentary :  "  Let  us  pray  God  to 
grant  that  the  deceased,  carried  upon  the  shoulders  of  the 
Good  Shepherd,  may  enjoy  the  fellowship  of  the  saints." 

A  somewhat  different  symbolism  is  expressed  by  the  pictures 
which  represent  the  shepherd  playing  upon  the  syrinx  and 
herding  the  sheep.  It  was  not  the  parable  of  the  Lost  Sheep 
which  was  reflected  in  this  theme,  but  the  richer  symbolism 
which  was  expressed  by  the  speech  recorded  in  S.  John's  Gos- 
pel, according  to  which  the  shepherd  protects  his  sheep  from 
the  wolf,  so  that  they  can  safely  go  in  and  out  and  find  pas- 
ture ;  he  calls  them  by  name  and  they  know  his  voice  and  fol- 
low him,  but  a  stranger  will  they  not  follow,  for  they  know 
i  John  x.  1-27;  xxi.  15-17;  Matt.  xv.  24;  Luke  xv.  4,  5. 


PAINTING— The  Good  Shepherd  210 

qoI  t lie  voice  of  strangers.  1 1.  is  bhis  image  which  is  expressed 
in  tlic  epitaph  of  AJbercius  (see  p.  235).  The  fulness  with 
which  the  Church  appropriated  this  symbolism  is  strikingly 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  figure  of  Orpheus  was  occasionally 
represented  in  place  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  That  the  repre- 
sentation of  Orpheus  was  not  an  unthinking  repetition  of  a 
subject  which  was  common  in  pagan  art,  is  placed  beyond  a 
doubt  by  the  fact  that  it  occurs  in  the  central  medallion  of  the 
ceiling,  that  is,  in  the  place  which  was  especially  appropriated 
to  the  Good  Shepherd.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Orpheus 
too  was  a  shepherd.  In  the  catacombs,  as  in  Classic  art,  he 
is  represented  in  Phrygian  costume;  he  sits  surrounded  by  his 
sheep,  or  by  various  birds  and  beasts,  which  listen  attentively 
to  the  music  of  his  lyre.  It  is  impossible  not  to  recognize  that 
it  was  the  intention  of  those  early  artists  to  associate  with  the 
Good  Shepherd  the  loftiest  moral  myth  which  was  known  to 
the  pagan  world,  to  represent  under  the  figure  of  Orpheus  the 
compelling  music  of  Christ's  voice,  which  drew  all  men  after 
him  and  closed  their  ears  to  the  song  of  the  Sirens.  It  must  be 
remarked  that  the  scene  of  Orpheus  and  the  Sirens  does  not 
occur  in  early  Christian  art,  though  that  other  fable  of  Ulysses 
binding  himself  to  the  mast  is  represented  several  times  upon 
the  sarcophagi  (Fig.  88).  But  this  was  not  the  only  nor  the 
most  express  symbolism  which  gave  the  figure  of  Orpheus  a 
place  in  the  decoration  of  the  Christian  cemetery.  In  Classic 
art,  also,  Orpheus  belonged  to  the  funereal  cycle,  for  it  was 
fabled  that  through  the  power  of  his  music  he  alone  had  been 
able  to  penetrate  into  the  lower  world  and  lead  up  from  Hades 
a  human  soul. 

The  symbolism  which  was  attached  to  the  sheep  was  a  very 
simple  one  in  the  early  centuries.  Of  the  sheep  which  was 
carried  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  Good  Shepherd  enough  has 
been  said.  The  fact  that  it  is  sometimes  a  kid  instead  of  a 
lamb  is  probably  not  significant.  It  is  not  till  the  fourth  cen- 
tury that  Christ  is  represented  dividing  the  sheep  from  the 
goats  (Fig.  87).  The  sheep  which  he  tends  and  feeds  represent 
either  his  flock  on  earth,  or  faithful  souls  in  heaven.  The  lat- 
ter sense  is  expressed  by  several  paintings  in  which  behind 
the  sheep  the  figures  of  the  blessed  dead  are  represented  in 
the  posture  of  prayer.     In  the  cripta  delle  pecorelle  in  S.  Callis- 


220  PICTORIAL  ART 

tus  tlic  <i(Kiil  Shepherd  is  represented  surrounded  by  a  number 
of- sheep,  and  iii  the  midst  of  them  stand  two  men  who  stretch 
out  their  hands  to  drink  of  the  wider  which  abundantly  flows 
from  the  rock  on  either  side.  Here  the  shepherd  is  depicted 
refreshing  the  souls  in  heaven  with  the  water  of  life.  On  a 
sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  the  Good  Shepherd  is  surrounded 
by  twelve  sheep,  and  behind  each  of  them  stands  an  Apostle. 

After  the  fourth  century  the  twelve  sheep  were  very  com- 
monly used  to  represent  the  Apostles,  especially  in  the  mosaics ; 
but  the  symbolism  of  the  Good  Shepherd  rapidly  fell  out  of 
favor  and  was  replaced  by  the  mystic  lamb  of  the  Apocalypse. 
In  the  mausoleum  of  Galla  Placidia  there  is  a  mosaic  of  the 
fifth  century  which  again  represents  the  Good  Shepherd  (Fig. 
141),  but  in  a  manner  which  reminds  one  of  our  modern  art. 
It  is  no  longer  properly  a  shepherd,  but  an  idealized  figure  of 
Christ  adorned  with  the  nimbus,  and  carrying  a  cross.  It  is 
strange  to  note  how  early  and  how  completely  the  old  symbol- 
ism disappeared,  never  to  be  revived  again  in  Christian  art. 

But  before  leaving  this  subject  we  have  still  to  trace  another 
trait  of  symbolism  which  was  associated  with  the  Good  Shep- 
herd in  its  earliest  representations.  I  refer  to  the  milk  with 
which  the  shepherd  nourishes  his  sheep.  This  was  represented 
by  the  jug  or  pail  which  he  carries  sometimes  at  his  side  (Fig. 
78).  The  importance  of  this  apparently  trivial  detail  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  the  sheep  and  the  pail  of  milk  sometimes 
appear  apart  from  the  shepherd.  In  the  crypt  of  Lucina  two 
sheep  are  represented  on  either  side  of  a  rustic  altar  of  stone 
on  which  rests  the  jug  of  milk  and  the  shepherd's  staff.  There 
are  somewhat  similar  representations  in  the  catacomb  of  Domi- 
tilla  and  in  the  house  of  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo.  This  is  so 
delicate  a  symbol,  and  it  is  so  remote  from  the  terms  of  modern 
thought,  that  its  sense  could  hardly  have  been  understood  but 
for  an  explanation  which  is  furnished  in  the  Acts  of  S.  Per- 
petua,  which  was  written  in  the  early  years  of  the  third  cen- 
tury. It  describes  a  vision  of  the  saint  in  these  words :  "  I 
mounted  and  beheld  a  garden  of  vast  extent,  and  in  the  midst 
of  this  garden  a  man  seated,  having  white  hair  and  the  dress 
of  a  shepherd,  milking  sheep :  and  standing  round  about  him 
thousands  of  men  clothed  in  white.  And  he  raised  his  head 
and  looked  at  me,  and  said  to  me:    Thou  art  welcome,  my 


PAINTING— rite  Celestial  Banquet  221 

daughter.  And  he  called  me  and  he  gave  me  some  of  the  warm 
milk  which  he  had  just  drawn,  and  I  received  it  with  folded 
hands  and  I  ate  it:  and  all  about  me  said,  Amen.  And  at  the 
sound  of  the  voice  I  awaked,  with  an  indescribable  taste  of 
sweet  in  my  mouth."  From  this  it  is  evident  that  the  jug  of 
milk  carried  by  the  Good  Shepherd  is  a  mystic  symbol  of  the 
Eucharist. 

The  favorite  representations  of  heaven  or  of  paradise  dur- 
ing the  first  three  centuries,  as  we  see  from  the  vision  of 
S.  Perpetua,  were  in  terms  of  the  pastoral  symbol.  The  olive 
tree  serves  here  to  denote  the  celestial  garden,  as  the  palm 
tree  does  in  the  art  of  the  following  centuries. 


THE    CELESTIAL    BANQUET 

A  more  definite  representation  of  the  refreshment  of  the 
soul  in  heaven  was  given  by  the  pictures  of  the  celestial  ban- 
quet. The  idea  was  obviously  suggested  by  many  of  our 
Lord's  sayings,  and  its  representation  in  Christian  art  was 
perhaps  facilitated  by  the  fact  that  it  had  been  a  favorite 
theme  in  some  of  the  pagan  religions.  The  earliest  example  is 
in  the  vestibule  of  S.  Domitilla.  It  represents  two  persons 
seated  before  a  small  table  upon  which  fish  and  bread  are  dis- 
played ;  an  attendant  stands  ready  to  minister  to  them.  The 
whole  is  so  realistic  that  it  might  be  taken  for  a  scene  of 
everyday  life  —  perhaps  for  a  funeral  agape  —  were  it  not  for 
the  mystic  fish  upon  the  table.  Most  of  these  scenes  belong 
to  a  single  region  of  the  catacomb  of  SS.  Pietro  e  Marcellino, 
and  are  probably  to  be  dated  about  the  end  of  the  third  cen- 
tury. There  are  five  of  these  pictures  still  discernible,  and 
they  have  a  striking  similarity  which  proves  either  the  hand 
of  the  same  artist  or  at  least  a  common  influence.  They  rep- 
resent a  family  feast  in  which  parents  and  children  are  seated 
about  a  semicircular  table  in  front  of  which  is  a  tripod  bearing 
the  mystic  fish.  Above  the  figures  of  two  of  the  party  are  in- 
scribed the  commands  which  they  are  supposed  to  be  address- 
ing to  the  two  maid-servants,  "Peace,  bring  me  warm  water," 
"Love,  fill  my  glass"  (irexe  da  calda;  agape  misce 
mi).  A  painting  of  the  same  period  in  an  arcosolium  of  the 
Ostrian  cemetery  represents  the  parable  of  the  Wise  Virgins. 


222 


picroniM.  Airr 


The  scene  is  divided  in  two  by  an  orans:  on  the  right  are  the 
nye  Virgins  holding  lighted  torches;  on  the  left  they  all 
appear   seated   at  the   marriage  feast.     The  same  parable  is 

represented  again  in  the  t'ourth-eentun    I'reseo  of   the  ee tery 

of  Cyriaca.  In  this  case  Christ  with  the  nimbus  appears  in 
the  middle ;  on  the  left  are  five  Virgins  with  lighted  torches, 
while  the  five  others  on  the  right  have  their  torches  lowered 


Fig.  70.  • 


-  Veneranda  introduced  into  paradise  by  S.  Petronilla,  fresco  in  the  catacomb  of 
Domitilla.    Fourth  century. 


and  extinguished.     It  is  probable  that  both  paintings  marked 
the  tombs  of  consecrated  virgins. 

The  introduction  into  heaven  through  the  kind  offices  of  a 
saintly  "  advocate "  was  sometimes  represented  in  the  third 
century;  it  became  a  more  common  theme  in  the  fourth,  and 
was  perpetuated  in  the  apsidal  mosaics  of  the  basilicas.  A 
picture  of  the  fourth  century  in  the  catacomb  of  Domitilla 
(Fig.    70)    represents  .  a    certain   Veneranda    introduced    into 


PAINTING— The  Eucharisttc  Banquet  223 

paradise  by  S.  Petronilla,  whoso  tomb  was  near  this  spot.  At 
the  feet  of  the  saint  is  a  box  containing  the  rolls  of  the  Scrip- 
ture; above  it  is  an  open  book. 

THE    EUCIIARISTIC    BANQUET 

The  miraculous  multiplication  of  the  loaves  and  fishes  was  pic- 
tured very  frequently  in  the  catacombs,  but  in  very  various  ways. 
This  theme  owed  its  great  popularity  to  the  fact  that  it  stood 
as  a  symbol  of  the  Eucharist,  —  a  symbol  which  was  suggested 
by  Christ  himself  in  the  address  which  S.  John  reports  after 
the  miracle.  A  third-century  fresco  in  the  cripta  clelle  pecorelle 
in  S.  Callistus  represents  it  in  the  same  manner  as  was  com- 
mon on  the  sarcophagi :  Christ  stretches  out  his  hands  to  bless 
the  loaves  and  fishes  which  are  presented  to  him  by  two 
Apostles;  on  the  ground  stand  six  baskets  filled  with  the 
fragments  which  remained.  The  figure  of  Christ  has  here 
been  destroyed  in  order  to  construct  a  niche  for  a  lamp,  but  his 
position  and  gesture  were  evidently  the  same  as  in  Fig.  95 
and  on  other  sarcophagi.  The  gesture  is  important,  for  it 
is  doubtless  the  same  as  that  which  was  commonly  used  in 
the  consecration  of  the  Eucharist.  In  a  picture  of  the  latter 
part  of  the  second  century  in  one  of  the  Sacrament  Chapels  of 
S.  Callistus  (Fig.  71)  Christ  is  represented  with  right  arm  and 
shoulder  bare — that  is,  clad  in  the  philosopher's  mantle  — 
stretching  his  hand  toward  the  bread  and  fish  which  are  sup- 
ported upon  a  tripod.  An  orans  standing  by  clearly  expresses 
the  soul  which  has  departed  from  this  world  comforted  with 
the  Eucharist  and  confident  in  the  almighty  power  of  Christ. 

There  were  very  many  ways  in  which  this  subject  was 
abbreviated ;  it  became  a  mere  hieroglyph  as  it  was  treated  in 
the  graffiti  of  the  gravestones ;  the  five  loaves  and.  the  two 
fishes  alone  sufficed  to  represent  at  once  the  miracle  and  the 
sacrament.  A  second-century  sarcophagus  of  travertine  in  the 
catacomb  of  S.  Priscilla  is  adorned  simply  with  five  loaves  on 
one  side  of  the  epitaph  and  an  anchor  on  the  other.  Two  fish 
and  five  loaves  appear  upon  a  tombstone  which  is  preserved 
at  Modena ;  a  similar  monument  is  preserved  in  the  Kircherian 
museum  at  Rome ;  and  one  of  the  tiles  covering  a  loculus  in 
S.  Priscilla  has  upon  it  two  loaves  moulded  in  mortar,  —  evi- 


224 


PICTORIAL   ART 


(Icntly  a  fragment  of  this  same  theme.  On  this  last  monument 
and  on  the  epitaph  at  Modena  the  breads  are  marked  with  a 
cioss,  as  they  are  also  in  several  frescos  which  represent  the 
seven  baskets.  On  the  sarcophagus  above  mentioned  and  on 
the  Roman  epitaph  they  are  marked  by  three  lines  crossing 
each  other  obliquely,  which  was  a  current  symbol  of  the  cross. 
Two  terra-cotta  lamps  from  Salona  which  represent  the  same 


Fig.  71. — Fresco  of  the  third  century,  in  one  of  the  Sacrament  Chapels,  catacomb  of  Cal- 
listus.  Christ,  clad  in  the  philosopher's  pallium,  consecrates  the  fish  and  bread  (symbol 
of  the  Eucharist) ;  an  orans  stands  beside  the  tripod. 


theme  have  the  breads  marked  with  the  Constantinian  mono- 
gram. 

But  we  must  postpone  other  abbreviations  of  this  theme  till 
we  come  to  consider  the  symbol  of  the  fish.  We  are  here 
engaged  with  the  scenes  which  represent  the  banquet  of  the 
multitude.  The  most  notable  examples  are  in  the  Sacrament 
Chapels  of  S.  Callistus.  These  so-called  chapels  are  in  reality 
ordinary  cubicula  which  are  notable  only  for  the  subtilty  of 
their  symbolical  frescos.  The  name  is  due  to  the  fashion 
which  till  lately  has  been  prevalent  of  interpreting  these 
frescos  as  symbols  of  all  the  seven  sacraments  of  the  Roman 


TAINTING      The  Eucharistic  Banquet 


22o 


Church.     1 1    is  now   recognized   that  only   baptism   and   the 

Kiidiarist  are  there  expressed,  and  these  subjects  appea 
often  in  the  catacombs  that,  they  constitute  no  reason  for  giv- 
ing so  distinctive  a  name  to  these  chambers.     There  are  six 
cubicula  usually  reckoned  to  this  group;  Wilpert  ascribes  the 
first  three  of  them  to  the  same  artist  and  to  the  latter  part  of 


Fig.  T'2.  — Christ  and  the  Samaritan  woman  at  Jacob's  well.     Fresco  in  one  of  the  Sacra- 
ment Chapels  in  the  catacomb  of  Callistus.     Third  century. 


the  second  century ;  and  the  others,  which  are  on  a  higher 
level,  to  the  century  following. 

The  chief  interest  lies  in  the  first  group,  and  it  is  to  be  regret- 
ted that  we  cannot  study  in  detail  the  numerous  subjects  which 
appear  on  their  walls  and  ceilings,  nor  trace  the  deeply  planned 
scheme  which  connects  them.  The  scheme  of  decoration  is 
substantially  the  same  in  all  three  chambers,  in  each  the  sym- 


.-jr, 


PICTORIAL   ART 


bols  of  baptism  and  of  the  Eucharist  are  represented.  In  the 
third  chamber  is  represented  Christ's  miracle,  the  multiplica- 
tion of  the  loaves  and 
fishes  (Fig.  71),  and  to 
the  left  of  it  the  feed- 
ing of  the  multitude,  a 
theme  which  was  thor- 
oughly conventionalized 
in  early  Christian  art. 
As  the  whole  multitude 
could  not  be  pictured, 
it  sufficed  to  represent 
seven  men  seated  at  a 
table  upon  which  were 
placed  the  loaves  and 
fishes,  and  about  which 
were  arranged  the  seven 
baskets.  The  same  scene 
was  depicted  in  the  first 
chamber.  In  both  these 
cases,  and  in  all  others 
where  this  subject  is 
represented,  the  men  are 
clad  in  tunics.  But  in 
the  second  chamber, 
with  but  slight  change 
of  treatment,  a  different 
subject  was  represented, 
the  meal  of  the  seven 
disciples  at  the  sea  of 
Tiberias,  when  after  his 
resurrection  the  Lord 
met  them  and  put  before 
them  bread  and  fish.  In 
this  representation  (Tig. 
73)  the  seven  baskets  are 
naturally  omitted,  and 
the  disciples,  as  fisher- 
men, are  depicted  naked. 
It  may  be  that  the  num- 


o-2 
<_  a 
o  >. 

■§    I 


O  X 


®    <3 


o    = 
a  s 


PAINTING— The  Eucharistic  Banquet  227 

ber  of  the  disciples  on  this  occasion  accounts  for  the  appear- 
ance of  just  seven  figures  in  all  similar  representations  of 
banquets.  In  this  illustration,  alongside  of  the  fishermen  at 
table,  there  is  represented  the  apostolic  fisherman  drawing  a 
fish  out  of  the  mystic  water  which  Moses  strikes  from  the  rock. 
In  this  way  the  symbol  of  baptism  is  brought  into  connection 
with  the  symbol  of  the  Eucharist.  In  the  same  chamber  the 
baptism  of  a  disciple  is  expressly  represented;  in  the  third 
chamber  we  have  the  baptism  of  Christ  in  the  Jordan,  and  out 
of  the  water  thus  sanctified  by  Christ,  the  fisherman  is  repre- 
sented drawing  his  fish. 

It  is  here  possible  only  to  allude  to  another  banquet  which 
was  employed  as  a  symbol  of  the  Eucharist,  namely  the  wed- 
ding feast  at  Cana  where  Christ  turned  the  water  into  wine. 
The  symbol  is  a  very  obvious  one. 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  artist  who  decorated  these 
chambers  was  acquainted  with  the  symbolism  of  the  fish,  which 
was  so  popular  in  that  age.  But  it  must  be  observed  that  the 
pictures  themselves  do  not  prove  it,  nor  do  the  briefer  symbols 
of  this  miracle  which  we  have  considered  above.  All  of  the 
pictures  of  the  fish  which  we  have  hitherto  considered  are 
based  upon  the  scriptural  account,  and  are  sufficiently  ex- 
plained by  it.  We  see  that  the  fish  symbol,  even  if  it  was 
originally  suggested  by  the  famous  acrostic,  must  have  been 
profoundly  influenced  by  the  artistic  employment  of  the  themes 
which  we  have  just  studied. 

We  have  now  to  consider  a  picture  to  which  "Wilpert  gives 
the  name  Fractio  Pants  —  "  The  Breaking  of  Bread."  It  adorns 
the  wall  above  one  of  the  great  arcosolia  in  the  CapeUa  greca 
in  the  catacomb  of  S.  Priscilla,  and  like  the  rest  of  the  decora- 
tion of  that  crypt  it  belongs  to  the  first  decades  of  the  second 
century.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  its  general  scheme  this  pic- 
ture (Eig.  74)  resembles  those  which  we  have  just  studied: 
there  are  seven  persons  seated  at  a  table  upon  which  are  two 
plates  with  the  five  loaves  and  the  two  fishes.  On  the  wall 
space  at  each  side  the  seven  baskets  are  depicted  (Eig.  3). 
These,  however,  are  the  only  symbolical  traits;  for  the  rest. 
it  was  evidently  intended  for  a  realistic  representation  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  as  it  was  celebrated  in  the  catacombs,  and  espe- 
cially in  this  very  crypt.     It  is  not  the  meal  of  the  seven  dis- 


•J'JS 


PICTOBIAL  ART 


cipleSj  for  we  can  distinguish  that  the  third  figure  from  the 
right  represents  a  woman.     Nor  is  it  the  feast  of  the  multi- 


PAINTING—  The  Eucharistic  Banquet  229 

tude,  for  there  also  only  men  are  represented.     We  can  dimly 

descry    ii| 1 1 1 « ■  1  ;i I >l « -  ;i  simple   mug   with   two  handles,  which 

is  highly  interesting  as  an  illustration  of  the  practical  style  of 
chalice  which  was  used  in  the  catacombs,  but  still  more  so 
because  it  establishes  beyond  a  doubt  that  this  picture  was 
intended  as  a  representation  of  the  Eucharist.  The  five  men 
who  face  the  beholder  are  clad  in  the  tunic ;  the  man  who  is  rep- 
resented in  profile  is  distinguished  by  a  beard  and  wears,  appar- 
ently, both  tunic  and  pallium,  which  was  the  dress  ascribed  in 
early  art  to  ecclesiastical  personages  of  rank.  Whether  he  is 
bishop  or  presbyter,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  is  the  presi- 
dent of  this  feast,  and  in  fact  he  is  depicted  graphically  in  the 
very  act  of  breaking  with  some  show  of  force  a  large  loaf 
of  bread.  The  picture,  therefore,  represents  the  solemn  act 
which  gave  to  this  feast  the  name  which  was  so  often  used  in 
the  Xew  Testament  —  "the  breaking  of  bread." 

There  are  realistic  traits  in  this  picture  which  suggest  very 
strongly  the  probability  that  the  artist  intended  to  represent 
the  Eucharist  as  he  had  actually  seen  it  celebrated  in  the  cata- 
combs. It  is  in  itself  quite  probable  that  even  after  the  early 
custom  of  sitting  around  a  common  table  had  become  impos- 
sible in  the  churches,  it  was  still  observed  among  the  small 
groups  of  people  who  gathered  in  the  cemeteries  to  commemo- 
rate their  dead.  The  stone  bench  along  the  wall  of  this  crypt 
(Fig.  3)  and  the  apse-like  arcosolium  at  the  end  prove  that  it 
was  expressly  intended  as  a  place  of  worship,  and  more  par- 
ticularly for  the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist.  It  is  obvious 
that  the  chief  tomb  was  beneath  the  apse,  yet  notwithstanding 
the  place  was  broad  enough  for  several  bodies,  the  grave  which 
is  actually  excavated  there  is  hardly  large  enough  for  a  year-old 
child.  Wilpert  supposes  very  reasonably  that  this  small  cavity 
contained  the  scanty  relics  of  a  martyr.  At  all  events,  it  is  the 
stone  which  covered  this  tomb  which  must  have  been  used  as 
the  altar,  and  as  the  proper  position  of  the  bishop  was  at  the 
back  of  the  apse,  we  have  in  this  an  explanation  of  the  curious 
fact  that  the  feet  of  the  bishop  are  upon  a  level  with  the 
chalice. 

Of  the  rest  of  the  decoration  of  this  crypt,  though  it  is 
among  the  most  complete  and  interesting  in  the  catacombs,  we 
can  stop  to  remark  only  that  the  representations  which  we  find 


230 


PICTORIAL  AI?T 


here  of  Daniel  and  Susanna,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus, 
prove  thai  in  the  liisi  decades  of  the  second  century  the  last 
chapters  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  were  regarded  as  Scripture,  and 
thai  the  artist  was  acquainted  with  the  Gospel  of  S.  John. 

In  the  civil  museum  at  Leghorn  there  is  an  ivory  pyx  from 
Carthage,  of  about  the  fourth  century,  which,  among  other  sub- 
jects, represents  the  feeding  of  the  multitude.  Christ  is  seated, 
and  he  stretches  out  his  hands  to  bless  the  bread  and  fishes 
which  are  brought  to  him.  On  either  side  Apostles  are  hurry- 
ing away,  carrying  in  the  lap  of  their  robes  the  miraculous  food 
to  the   hungry  multitude.     In  the  early  Church  the  deacons 


Fig.  75.  —  Fragment  of  a  fresco  of  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  in  the  crypt  of  Lucina, 

containing  loaves  of  bread 


carried  the  consecrated  bread  to  the  congregation,  and  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  artist  wished  to  point  the  comparison  between  the 
service  of  the  Apostles  upon  this  occasion  and  that  of  the 
deacons  in  the  Church. 

Of  about  the  same  age  as  the  Fractio  Panis  is  the  fresco  rep- 
resenting the  two  fish  (Fig.  75)  in  the  crypt  of  Lucina,  the 
oldest  part  of  the  catacomb  of  Callistus.  These  interesting 
figures  are  only  a  remnant  of  a  larger  composition,  which  was 
originally  painted  between  them,  and  is  now  destroyed.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  it  represented  the  Eucharistic  banquet 
under  one  or  another  of  the  forms  which  we  have  already 
studied.     But  how  complete  is  the  symbolism  of  these  two  ter- 


PAINTING— The  Euchartetic  Banquet 


231 


minal  figures  alone!     Beside  each  fish  is  placed  a  basket  full 

Of  bread,  and  through  the  wickerwork  of  the  basket  one  can 
delect  by  its  red  color  a,  glass  of  wine.  The  baskets,  like  the 
fish,  were  an  abbreviation  of  l  lie  miraculous  feeding  of  the 
multitude,  bid.  the  wine  was  added  expressly  with  reference  to 
the  Eucharist.  It  is  known  that  glass  chalices  were  in  use; 
it  may  be  that  the  basket  too  had  not  merely  a  symbolical  sug- 
gestion. It  seems  as  if  Jerome  were  commenting  on  this 
picture  when,  mentioning  the  meanest  utensils  which  could  be 
used  for  the  Eucharist,  he  says :  "  ISTo  one  is  so  rich  as  he  who 
carries  the  body  of  Christ  in  a  wicker  basket,  and  his  blood  in 


-j±. 


catacomb  of  Callistus.      It  symbolizes  the  Eucharist,  representing  two  fish,  with  baskets 
and  a  glass  of  wine. 


a  cup  of  glass."  The  symbolism  of  the  fish  conies  to  clearer 
expression  in  this  picture  :  the  fish  is  Christ,  it  is  he  who  offers 
this  food,  and  the  food  he  offers  is  himself.  This  picture  and 
the  Fractio  Panis  are  the  earliest  monuments  in  which  the  fish 
occurs. 

We  have  not  far  to  seek  for  the  association  of  ideas  which 
made  these  symbols  of  the  Eucharist  so  popular  in  Christian 
cemeteries.  Christ  himself  said,  "  He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and 
drinketh  my  blood  hath  eternal  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at 
the  last  day."  Eternal  life  and  the  Eucharist  are  two  ideas 
which  for  the  Church  are  inseparable.  In  the  short  liturgy  in 
the  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  the  Eucharist  is  expressly 


282  PICTORIAL   ABT 

regarded  as  the  nourishment  for  eternal  life,  and  this  idea  is 
often  associated  with  it  in  early  Christian  literature.  S.  Igna- 
tius calls  the  Eucharist  "the  medicament  of  immortality,  the 
antidote  of  death,"  and  Clement  of  Alexandria,  " the  provender 
of  eternal  life." 

THE    FISH 

We  have  already  traced  the  fish  symbol  in  its  connection 
with  the  feeding  of  the  multitude.  But,  whatever  its  origin,  it 
is  certain  that  the  symbol  owed  its  popularity  chiefly  to  the 
famous  acrostic  which  formed  the  Greek  word  for  fish  — 
IX0Y2  —  out  of  the  initial  letters  of  the  five  words  which  de- 
scribed the  title  of  our  Lord,  'Irjaovs  Xpicrrds  ®eou  'Yids  2wr?7/3 
(Jesus  Christ  Son  of  God  Saviour).  This  made  of  the  fish  — 
whether  pictured  or  written  —  a  mystic  symbol  of  Christ  him- 
self. We  do  not  know  definitely  when  or  where  this  acrostic 
was  invented.  But  it  is  probable  that  it  was  current  in  the 
early  years  of  the  second  century,  and  that  in  all  the  symbolical 
representations  of  the  Eucharist  which  we  have  studied  we 
have  to  read  this  deeper  meaning,  and  recognize  the  suggestion, 
that  the  food  which  Christ  provides  for  his  Church  is  Himself. 
Prosper  of  Aquitaine  speaks  of  Christ  as  "  giving  himself  as 
food  to  the  disciples  by  the  seashore,  and  offering  himself  to  the 
whole  world  as  Ichthus."  The  earliest  case  in  which  the  fish 
occurs  in  connection  with  the  anchor  —  the  symbol  of  hope  — 
is  on  the  sarcophagus  of  Livia  Primitiva  (Pig.  16),  about  the 
middle  of  the  second  century.  Toward  the  end  of  the  second 
century  it  became  common  to  represent  two  fishes,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  anchor,  for  the  sake  of  symmetry,  and  perhaps  with 
a  reminiscence  of  the  two  fishes  of  the  miracle.  This  formed  the 
hieroglyph  for  the  epitaph  which  was  so  common  in  the  early 
centuries,  spes  in  christo  —  hope  on  Christ. 

The  fish  appears  during  the  first  four  centuries  in  a  very 
great  variety  of  forms  and  upon  all  sorts  of  monuments,  not 
only  in  cemeterial  art,  but  upon  amulets,  carved  stones,  and 
rings.  Clement  of  Alexandria  counselled  Christians,  if  they 
were  to  wear  rings,  to  wear  them  upon  the  little  finger  of  the 
left  hand  where  they  would  not  impede  one's  labor,  and  to 
engrave  upon  them  the  Christian  symbols,  the  fish  and  the 
dove,  the  anchor,  the  lyre,  and  the  ship.     The  fish  often  appears 


FAINTING— The  Fish 


2.°.° 


in  the  form  of  the  dolphin,  and  the  frequency  of  this  form  is 
due  to  flic  fact  that  the  dolphin  was  a  common  decorative  fea- 
ture in  Classic  art.  It  was  regarded  as  an  animal  especially 
friendly  to  man,  and  it  gained  a  sepulchral  symbolism  from  the 
fable  that  it  carried  the  souls  of  the  departed  to  the  islands  of 
the  blessed.  1  n  ( ilassical  art  hardly  any  subject  was  more  com- 
mon than  scenes  of  fishing,  which  were  employed  in  a  purely 
decorative  interest.  Similar  scenes  repeated  in  Christian  art 
were  undoubtedly  regarded  as  symbolical  (Fig.  126).  We  have 
seen  that  the  common  fisherman  stood  for  the  apostolic  fisher 
of  men,  for  the  fish  represented  not  only  Christ,  but  his  disci- 
ples as  well.  Tertullian  says :  "  We  little  fish,  after  the  image 
of  our  Ichthus  Jesus  Christ,  are  born  in  the  water,  nor  other- 
wise than  swimming  in  the  water  are  we  safe."     We  see  from 


Fig.  76.  — Carved  gems  of  the  second  or  third  century. 


this  that  the  fish  symbolized  baptism,  and  we  have  to  read  this 
meaning  in  the  picture  of  the  fisherman  in  the  Sacrament 
Chapels.  It  was  not  only  the  fish  cooked  and  served  upon  the 
table  which  symbolized  Christ,  but  the  live  fish  swimming  about 
in  the  water.  Speaking  of  the  multitude  who  were  fed  with 
the  five  loaves  and  the  two  fishes,  Paulinus  of  ISTola  says  of 
Christ  that  "  he  himself  is  the  true  bread  and  the  fish  of  living 
water" — panis  ipse  verus  et  aquae  vivce  piscis  Christus.  An 
early  carved  gem  (Fig.  76)  represents  a  ship,  the  symbol  of  the 
Church,  supported  by  the  fish,  and  with  the  doves  of  peace 
perched  upon  its  mast  and  stern.  It  further  represents,  as  a 
typical  parallel  to  this,  Christ  supporting  Peter  upon  the 
water.  The  gem  which  is  placed  beside  this  in  the  illustration 
groups  together  many  of  the  elements  of  early  symbolism. 
The   perch  which   supports   the   dove   represents   the    cross ; 


284  PICTORIAL  ART 

between  thai  and  the  Good  Shepherd  the  cross  is  again  repre- 
sented by  the  mast  of  a,  ship,  and  on  the  other  side  by  the 
anchor  with  two  fish  beside  it,  the  cross  appearing  again  in 
the  letter  A'  below;  with  the  three  other  letters  which  are 
scattered  about  (the  I  above  the  anchor,  the  C  inverted, 
and  the  (-)  without  the  cross-bar)  we  spell  the  word  IX0YC 
("fish'').  In  Fig.  77  we  have  four  representations  of  this 
symbol.  In  Fig.  78  we  have  the  Ichthns,  the  Good  Shepherd, 
the  anchor,  and  the  ship.  Figure  165  is  a  curious  bit  of  sym- 
bolism ;  instead  of  Jonah,  who  was  the  type  of  Christ  and  the 
Resurrection,  we  see  the  fish  resting  under  the  gourd. 

The  wdiole  of  this  symbolism  is  summed  up  in  an  epitaph  of 
the  third  or  fourth  century  of  a  certain  Pectorius  of  Autun. 
The  epitaph  begins  with  a  metrical  composition  which  was 
probably  much  older.  It  is  an  acrostic,  the  first  letter  of  each 
line  forming  the  word  Ichthus.  "  Divine  race  of  the  heavenly 
Ichthus,  receive  with  pious  heart  among  mortals  the  immortal 


Fig.  77.  —  Early  Christian  seals  or  carved  gems,  —  the  fish  symbol. 

spring  of  divinely  cleansing  waters ;  refresh  your  soul,  my 
friend,  with  the  perennial  waters  of  the  wisdom  which  maketh 
rich;  receive  the  delicious  food  of  the  Saviour  of  saints;  eat, 
hungry  one,  holding  Ichthus  in  thy  two  hands." 

Of  far  higher  importance  for  the  illustration  of  this  symbol, 
and  indeed  of  the  whole  character  of  early  symbolism,  is  the 
famous  metrical  epitaph  of  Abercius  of  Hieropolis,  which  both 
Lightfoot  and  de  Rossi  reckoned  among  the  most  important  of 
early  Christian  inscriptions.  Abercius  has  been  identified  as 
the  bishop  of  Hieropolis,  a  small  town  in  Phrygia.  He  lived 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century,  and  the  journey  to 
Rome  which  he  mentions  was  probably  made  in  the  time  of 
the  Antonines.  The  inscription  was  known  only  in  manuscript 
till  Dr.  Ramsay,  in  his  first  expedition  to  Phrygia,  discovered 
the  monument  of  a  certain  Alexander,  dated  in  the  year  216, 
which  repeated  several  lines  of  the  inscription  of  his  fellow- 


PAINTING—  The  Fish 


235 


citizen  A  heroins.  On  his  second  journey  lie  was  fortunate 
enough  to  tind  two  large  fragments  of  the  monument  of  Aber- 
cius  himself,  and  they  are  now  in  the  Vatican.  The  stone  was 
nearly  cubical  in  shape  —  the  common  form  of  the  funeral  stele 
—  and  the  inscription  was  engraved  on  three  sides.  One  of 
the  fragments  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  20.     It  reads  as  follows :  — 

"  I,  a  citizen  of  an  elect  city,  in  my  lifetime  have  erected  this 
monument,  to  have  where  to  place  my  body  when  time  shall 
require  it. 

"My  name  is  Abercius,  a  disciple  of  the  holy  Shepherd 
who  feeds  his  sheep  upon  the  hills  and  plains,  who  has  great 


Fig.  T8.  —  Early  Christian  seals  and  rings,  —  the  cross,  the  fish,  the  shepherd,  the  anchor, 

and  the  ship. 

eyes  which  see  through  all,  who  taught  me  the  sure  learning 
of  life,  and  sent  me  to  Rome  to  see  the  royal  city  and  the 
queen  clad  in  a  golden  robe  and  with  golden  shoes.  There  I 
saw  a  people  who  had  the  gleaming  seal.  I  saw  also  the  plains 
of  Syria  and  all  cities,  Nisibis,  beyond  the  Euphrates.  Every- 
where I  found  fellow-believers,  Paul  .  .  .  ;  everywhere  was 
Faith  my  guide,  and  gave  me  everywhere  for  food  the  Ichthus 
from  the  spring,  the  great,  the  pure,  which  the  spotless  Virgin 
caught  and  ever  puts  before  the  Friends  to  eat;  she  has  also 
delicious  wine,  and  she  offers  wine  mixed  with  water  together 


236  PICTORIAL    ART 

with  bread.  I,  Aboreius,  dictated  this  to  be  written  in  my 
presence,  and  in  i'aet  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  my  life. 
Let  every  sharer  in  my  confession  who  understands  this  pray 
for  Abercius. 

"  No  man  may  lay  another  in  my  grave  ;  but  if  it  be  done,  he 
must  pay  to  the  Roman  treasury  two  thousand  gold  pieces,  and 
to  my  dear  native  city  Hieropolis  a  thousand  gold  pieces." 

Abercius  recognized  that  the  mystic  symbolism  of  his  inscrip- 
tion would  be  understood  only  by  fellow-believers.  The  enig- 
matical character  of  his  language  is  due  partly  to  the  fact  that 
he  speaks  of  baptism  and  the  Eucharist,  which  were  the  sub- 
jects chiefly  guarded  by  the  secret  discipline  of  the  Church  in 
the  second  century.  From  what  we  have  already  studied  we 
can  recognize  the  appropriateness  of  this  mention  of  the 
Eucharist  in  an  epitaph,  its  relation  to  eternal  life  and  the 
resurrection.  But  it  was  also  connected  very  naturally  with 
the  account  of  his  journey,  for  it  was  the  custom  to  offer  the 
Eucharist  to  a  visiting  bishop  in  sign  of  communion  with  him 
and  with  his  church.  Faith  was  his  guide,  for  without  that 
the  Eucharist  could  not  be  received.  He  speaks  of  Christ  as 
the  fish,  and  having  begun  with  the  symbol  he  carries  it  out  by 
referring  to  the  Virgin  Mother  as  one  who  caught  the  fish.  He 
speaks  of  her  also,  strangely  enough,  as  the  one  who  offers 
this  food  to  the  "  friends."  Under  the  figure  of  the  queen 
clad  in  gold  he  refers  to  the  Roman  Church.  The  Christian 
people  of  Rome  had  "  the  gleaming  seal "  ;  it  is  well  known 
that  baptism  was  commonly  spoken  of  under  the  figure  of  a 
seal.  It  is  very  interesting  to  observe  that  already  in  that  age 
he  found  everywhere  fellow-believers,  everywhere  recognition 
of  the  unity  of  the  Church  in  the  communion  of  the  Eucharist, 
which  was  celebrated  everywhere  in  substantially  the  same 
way,  and  particularly  by  the  use  of  wine  mixed  with  water. 

THE   CKOSS    AND    THE    MONOGRAM 

Never  has  the  sign  of  the  cross  been  held  in  higher  estima- 
tion than  it  was  in  the  first  centuries  of  the  Church.  Some 
of  the  early  Christian  writers  dwelt  at  length  upon  the  reli- 
gious symbolism  involved  in  the  cross ;  they  traced  it  in  the 
commonest  objects,  in  the  letter  T,  in  the  mast  and  yards  of 


PAINTING— The  Cross 


237 


the  ship,  in  the  crosspiece  of  the  anchor,  in  the  trophy,  i:i  the 
attitude  of  prayer,  and  they  sought  out  more  remote  analogies 
in  the  very  constitution  of  nature  itself.  We  have  already 
had  occasion  to  note  the  presence  of  the  dissimulated  cross,  as 
it  is  called,  on  early  monuments.  Besides  this,  it  is  well  known 
how  frequently  this  sign  was  used  as  a  gesture,  not  only  in 
ecclesiastical  functions,  but  in  private  life.  In  the  latter  half 
of  the  second  century,  to  judge  from  Tertullian's  account,  this 
gesture  was  employed  more  commonly  than  in  any  subsequent 
period.  He  says,  "  At  every  action  which  we  begin,  in  coming 
in  and  going  out,  when  we  clothe  ourselves,  or  put  on  our  shoes, 
when  we  bathe,  when  we  seat  ourselves  at  table,  at  lamplight- 


Fig.  79. 


■A  coin  of  Apamea,  Phrygia,  representing'  Noah  and  the  ark,  reign  of  Septimius 
Severus. 


ing,  on  going  to  bed,  we  trace  on  the  forehead  the  sign  of  the 
cross." 

With  all  this  it  cannot  but  strike  us  with  astonishment  that 
an  undisguised  representation  of  the  cross  is  rarely  found  in 
early  Christian  art.  De  Kossi  could  point  to  but  one  instance 
before  the  time  of  Constantine,  and  it  remained  exceedingly 
rare  for  more  than  a  century  after  that.  The  only  explanation 
that  can  be  given  of  this  fact  is  that  the  early  Christians  felt 
a  particular  distaste  for  the  representation  of  the  instrument 
which  was  still  commonly  in  use,  like  our  gallows,  for  the  pun- 
ishment of  felons,  as  they  showed  in  general  a  reluctance  to 
depict  our  Lord's  humiliation  and  passion.  We  can  under- 
stand very  well  to  what  ridicule  the  public  use  of  the  cross 
would  have  exposed  them.  We  have  indeed  a  striking  instance 
of  pagan  ridicule,  in  the  crucifix  with  the  ass's  head  from  the 


2:'.s  PICTORIAL  AET 

Palatine,  which  was  rudely  scratched  on  the  wall  of  the  pages' 
quarters  attached  to  one  of  the  imperial  palaces.  In  front  of 
the  crucifix  is  a  figure  in  the  attitude  of  adoration,  and  the 
inscription  reads,  "  Alexamenos  adores  God."  The  picture 
belongs  to  the  end  of  the  second  century,  and  strangely  enough 
it  is  the  earliest  representation  of  the  crucifixion. 

Since  the  cross  does  not  appear  even  upon  Christian  monu- 
ments of  the  second  and  third  centuries,  it  is  futile  to  follow 
those  who  attempt  to  trace  it  to  a  pre-Christian  origin.  There 
were  in  use,  among  almost  all  peoples,  religious  symbols  which 
had  a  more  or  less  close  likeness  to  the  cross.  The  analogy  is 
for  the  most  part  very  easily  explained,  for  the  cross  is  the  cos- 
mic symbol  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  or  of  the  universe. 

The  Christians  saw  in  these  pagan  symbols  a  mystic  presage 
of  the  Gospel,  but  the  only  oue  of  which  they  made  any  use 
during  the  second  and  third  centuries  was  the  swastica  (Fig. 

Fig.  80.  —  Various  forms  of  the 

80,  a),  an  ancient  Oriental  symbol,  which  was  commonly  used 
in  the  West  for  purely  decorative  purposes.  The  fossor  repre- 
sented in  Fig.  7  has  the  corners  of  his  tunic  ornamented  with 
it,  and  it  was  used  not  infrequently  in  the  early  tapestries. 

The  so-called  Nile  key  (Fig.  80, 7c),  which  was  one  of  the  most 
ancient  religious  symbols  of  Egypt,  was  sometimes  employed 
on  Egyptian  tapestries  after  the  fifth  century  (Figs.  174,  175). 
The  Christians  found  in  it  a  special  appropriateness  because  it 
was  the  Egyptian  symbol  of  life,  and  it  is  well  known  that,  of 
all  the  various  notions  which  attached  themselves  to  the  Chris- 
tian cross,  none  were  so  common,  nor  so  fundamental,  as  that 
which  regarded  it  as  the  tree  of  life.  This  notion  appears  early 
in  Christian  art.  In  a  fresco  of  the  fourth  century  in  S.  Callis- 
tus  the  cross,  still  dissimulated,  is  represented  under  the  figure 
of  a  green  tree  with  two  horizontal  branches  under  which  there 
stand  two  doves.  The  triumphal  cross,  as  it  was  depicted  in  the 
mosaics  of  the  basilicas  after  the  eighth  century,  was  not  only 
studded  with  jewels,  but  bourgeoning  with  flowers.  The  cross 
which  is  painted  in  the  vestibule  of  the  cemetery  of  Pontianus 


FAINTING— The  Cross  239 

(Fig.  83)  is  evidently  copied  from  the  art  of  the  basilieas.  It  is 
quite  possible  that  the  Egyptian  symbol  had  an  additional  inter- 
est from  the  fact  that  it  combined  the  cross  and  the  wreath, 
which  —  like  the  crown  with  us  —  represented  the  triumph 
which  followed  martyrdom.  The  wreath  appears  above  the 
cross  in  Fig.  22,  but  it  was  more  common  for  the  cross  to  be 
framed  within  the  wreath,  and  it  must  not  be  supposed  that 
this  was  done  in  a  purely  decorative  interest.  The  Constan- 
tinian  monogram  was  usually  framed  in  this  way,  and  that,  too, 
it  must  be  remembered,  was  regarded  as  a  representation  of  the 
cross.  In  Fig.  175  the  monogram  is  framed  in  the  circle  of 
the  Nile  key. 

The  equal-armed  cross  appears  not  infrequently  upon  coins 
before  the  Christian  period,  but  merely  as  a  monetary  sign.  It 
is  probably  due  to  this  fact  that  it  appears  upon  Constantinian 
coins  (Fig.  81,  a)  before  it  was  common  elsewhere. 


Constantinian  monogram  and  the  cross. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Constantinian  monogram 
owed  its  origin  in  part  to  a  pagan  religious  symbol,  the  sun- 
wheel.  The  three  forms  in  which  the  Constantinian  monogram 
or  cross  is  represented  are  shown  in  Fig.  80,  d,  e,  and  /;  of 
these  the  first  was  the  earliest  and  the  most  common.  It  was 
commonly  surrounded  by  a  circle  or  wreath.  The  sun-wheel 
is  represented  in  the  last  figure  of  the  same  illustration  ;  it  was 
drawn  perhaps  as  frequently  with  but  three  intersecting  lines, 
like  the  earliest  monogram  without  the  loop  of  the  letter  P. 
The  supposition  that  there  was  a  connection  between  these  two 
symbols  does  not  rest  chiefly  upon  their  formal  likeness,  but 
upon  the  proofs  which  are  gathered  from  one  side  and  another 
to  the  effect  that  Constantine,  before  the  vision  which  turned 
him  to  Christianity,  was  interested  in  the  sun-worship  of  the 
Mithras  cult,  and  continued  to  confuse  the  ideas  of  the  two 
religions.  It  will  be  remembered  that  of  all  the  pagan  reli- 
gions, it  was  the  Mithras  cult  which  competed  most  seriously 
with  Christianity,  and  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  very  curious 
analogies  were  to  be  traced  between  the  two.     One  of  these 


240 


riCTORIAL  AliT 


points  of  likeness  was  the  fact  that,  as  worshippers  of  the  sun, 
they  observed  the  same  feast  day  as  the  Christians.  Constan- 
tino's edict  Forbidding  the  transaction  of  public  business  upon 
Sunday  seems  to  reflect  the  Mithraic  mode  of  speech  rather 
than  the  Christian,  for  he  calls  it  "the  ancient  and  venerable 
day  of  the  sun."  One  of  Constantine's  coins  (Fig-  81,  a)  repre- 
sents the  sun  standing  between  two  stars,  one  of  which  is  in  the 
shape  of  the  cross.  The  inscription  reads  :  Soli  invicto  com  Hi. 
The  title  invictus  (unconquered)  given  to  the  sun  was  peculiar 
to  the  Mithraic  cult;  it  alludes  to  the  principal  festival  of  that 
religion  —  from  which  we  derive  our  Christmas  —  when  at  the 
winter  solstice  the  sun  proves  himself  unconquered  by  the 
winter  and  begins  to  renew  his  power.     A  little  later,  on  a 


Fig.  81.  —Four  coins  of 

coin  of  Nepotianus  (Fig.  82,  b),  the  monogram  is  represented 
between  two  stars  and  would  seem  to  stand  for  the  sun. 

About  the  sign  which  Constantine  saw  in  the  sky  there  is 
some  confusion,  because  it  is  not  well  understood  that  the  mono- 
gram was  actually  intended  to  represent  the  cross,  and  that 
whenever  during  the  Constantinian  age  a  monument  is  spoken 
of  as  a  cross,  it  may  generally  be  presumed  to  be  in  the  shape 
of  the  monogram.  When  it  is  said  that  Constantine  saw  a  cross 
in  the  sky,  it  is  evidently  the  monogram  that  is  meant,  for  the 
monogram  was  undoubtedly  intended  to  represent  what  he  had 
seen.  There  is  very  strong  probability  that  what  he  saw  was 
connected  in  some  way  with  the  sun  —  some  unusual  and  strik- 
ing effect  of  the  sun's  rays — and  the  chief  enigma  which 
remains  is,  how  he  came  to  associate  this  portent  with  a  Chris- 
tianity which  made  of  its  cross  so  great  a  secret. 

JSTo  one  has  been  able  to  suggest  a  satisfactory  account  of  the 
word  labarum,  which  was  used  to  denote  the  military  standards 
adorned  with  the  Constantinian  cross.  In  no  other  way  was 
the  official  adoption  of  the  Christian  religion  so  plainly  marked 


PAINTING— The  Cross 


241 


as  in  the  use  of  tho  Christian  emblem  for  the  standards  of  the 
army.  The  standards  of  the  different  legions  were  distin- 
guished from  one  another.  Several  varieties  of  them  are  illus- 
trated upon  |.l ie  coins  of  <  'onstanl  ine  (Fig.  81,  &,  c,  and  d).  The 
first  one  here  illustrated  shows  the  monogram  surmounting  a 
banner  upon  which  are  three  dots,  which  represent  the  por- 
traits of  the  emperor  and  his  sons.  In  the  second  instance  the 
imperial  portraits  are  arranged  in  a  vertical  order  along  the 
staff,  and  it  is  not  the  monogram,  hut  the  equal-armed  cro 
which  is  framed  above.  On  the  third  coin  the  monogram 
appears  in  a  similar  frame.  On  a  coin  of  Nepotianus  the 
hgure  of  Rome  is  represented  holding  the  globe  of  the  world, 
which  is  surmounted  by  the  monogram.      In  Fig.  81,  b,  the« 


Constantine  the  Great. 

staff  of  the  standard  transfixes  a  serpent.  This  represents 
Christ  treading  upon  the  serpent,  or  more  generally  Christi- 
anity triumphing  over  iniquity.  One  of  the  rings  illustrated 
in  Fig.  78  represents  a  serpent  coiled  about  the  base  of  the 
cross;  but  notwithstanding  its  great  similarity  in  form  to  the 
preceding,  it  seems  to  represent  a  different  idea.  The  two 
doves  which  accompauy  the  serpent  and  the  word  salus  written 
beneath  suggest  the  bronze  serpent  of  Moses.  We  have  Con- 
stantine's  idea  expressed  again,  and  more  fully,  in  two  pictures 
woven  in  silk  (Fig.  171).  This  monument  comes  from  Achmim 
in  Egypt,  and  it  is  ascribed  to  the  fifth  or  sixth  century. 
Above  is  represented  the  imperial  eagle,  attacking  an  evil 
beast;  below,  Christ  slaying  the  dragon.  Christ  holds  his 
cross  in  his  left  hand,  and  in  his  right  a  spear  which  is 
marked  with  a  cross  at  its  handle.  The  dragon  is  represented 
as  a  crocodile,  after  analogies  in  Egyptian  art.  The  picture 
plainly  represents  the  Empire  and  the  Church  united  in  the 
suppression  of  evil.  It  is  strange  to  find  upon  so  ancient  a 
monument  the  expression  of  an  idea  which  was  destined  to 

R 


242 


PICTORIAL   ART 


become  at  once  the  greatest  and  the  most  disturbing  ideal  of 
European  history. 

The  Constantinian  symbol  was  very  early  accompanied  by 
the  letters  Alpha  and  Omega,  so  that  this  sign  came  to  signify 
not  only  Christ's  Name  and  his  Passion,  but  his  Divinity. 
In  Fig.  103  oue  may  see  two  different  types  of  the  mono- 
gram with  these  two  letters  ;  the  third  type  of  the  monogram, 
without  the  letters,  appears  in  Fig.  104.  On  a  lead  sarcoph- 
agus from  Phoenicia  (Fig.  9)  the  monogram  is  surrounded  by 
the  letters  of  the  word  Ickthus.  In  the  Christian  Museum  of 
the  Vatican,  there  is  a  large  representation  of  the  monogram  in 
ivory,  framed  in  a  horseshoe  instead  of  the  wreath. 
,  From  the  very  introduction  of  this  emblem  it  became  at 
once  exceedingly  common  throughout  the  Empire,  and  it 
serves  as  one  of  the  readiest  marks  for  distinguishing  the  date 


Fig.  82.  —  Coins  of  Nepotianus, 

of  early  Christian  monuments.  Strange  to  say,  it  almost  as 
quickly  passed  out  of  use.  It  is  rare  to  find  it  in  Rome  later 
than  the  fatal  year  410.  It  was  from  the  first  a  symbol  of 
triumph,  and  it  ill  befitted  the  sad  condition  of  Rome  after  its 
capture  by  the  Goths.  The  cross  then  came  into  use  in  its 
realistic  form,  and  the  type  of  monogram  which  most  closely  re- 
sembled this  (Fig.  80,  f)  remained  latest  in  use.  In  the  Orient, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  original  monogram  survived  much  longer. 
The  supposition  that  Constantine  merely  adopted  a  symbol 
which  was  already  common  among  the  Christians  finds  no 
support  in  the  monuments,  for  there  is  nothing  to  show  that 
before  his  time  these  two  letters  were  ever  combined  as  an 
emblem  of  Christ.  They  do  appear,  however,  though  very 
rarely,  as  an  abbreviation.  The  name  Jesus  was  sometimes 
abbreviated  by  writing  only  the  first  two  letters,  IH.  Like- 
wise, the  two  initials  of  the  name  Jesus  Christ,  IX  ,  were  com- 


PAINTING—  The  Cross 


243 


bined  as  in  Fig.  80,  b;  and  Fig.  80,  c  shows  how  the  first  two 
letters  of  the  name  Christ  were  occasionally  combined.  The 
important  distinction  which  has  to  be  made  is,  that  these  signs 
were  never  used  alone,  but  only  in  the  course  of  an  inscription 
and  as  a  true  abbreviation.  There  is,  however,  a  difference 
between  the  abbreviation  and  the  monogram  (Fig.  80,  c  and  d) 
which  is  not  generally  remarked :  in  the  abbreviation  the 
letter  X  stands  upright,  in  the  Constantinian  monogram  it  lies 
on  its  side,  and  the  figure  has,  therefore,  greater  symmetry. 

About  the  fifth  century  there  came  about  a  change  in  the  form 
of  the  monogram  concerning  which  no  adequate  explanation  has 
been  offered.  Instead  of  completing  the  letter  Mho  (P),  the 
loop  was  not  brought  around  to  meet  the  staff,  but  terminated 
instead  in  an  outward  curve,  so  that  the  figure  was  not  unlike 
a  shepherd's  crook.      It  has  been  supposed  that  this  was  in- 


Eudoxia,  and  Galla  Placidia. 

tended  to  represent  the  Roman  letter  R,  which  corresponded  to 
the  Greek  P;  .but  this  purpose  was  certainly  not  very  clearly 
indicated,  and  it  does  not  explain  the  fact  that  this  form  occurs 
most  frequently  upon  monuments  of  Greek-speaking  lands. 

When  we  come  to  consider  the  undisguised  cross,  if  we  may 
so  call  it,  we  cannot  but  feel  surprise  that  even  the  discovery 
of  the  true  cross  did  not,  in  any  noticeable  degree,  encourage 
the  use  of  this  symbol  in  art.  It  remained  very  rare  till  the 
fifth  century.  It  must  be  understood  that  it  was  only  the 
equal-armed  cross  (Fig.  80,  g)  which  was  in  use  either  in  East 
or  West.  The  name,  Greek  cross,  is  a  complete  misnomer,  so 
far  as  the  early  period  is  concerned ;  it  indicates  a  distinction 
which  was  not  marked  before  the  Middle  Ages.  De  Vogue 
suggests  that  the  earliest  example  of  the  so-called  Latin  cross 
(Fig.  80,  h)  is  perhaps  one  which  he  found  carved  over  the 
door  of  a  fourth-century  Syrian  dwelling ;  at  all  events  its  use 


244 


PICTORIAL   ART 


\v;is  rare  before  the  fifth  century,  and  the  mosaic  in  S.  Puden- 
tiana  (Fig.  127)  is  one  of  the  few  examples  we  can  point  to. 

The  equal-armed  cross,  it  must  be  observed,  was  not  a 
strictly  realistic  representation  of  the  instrument  of  our  Lord's 
Passion,  for  a  cross  of  that  shape  was  probably  never  actually 
used.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  cross  as  commonly  used  had 
the  shape  of  the  patibulum  (Fig.  80,  ?').  An  upright  stake  with 
a  transverse  bar  above  it  was  all  that  was  practically  required. 
Just  because  it  was  the  ordinary  instrument  of  punishment  it 

was  very  rarely  represented  in  Chris- 
tian art,  although,  as  we  have  seen, 
objects  of  similar  form,  like  the  let- 
ter T,were  taken  as  symbols  of  it. 
In  the  case  of  our  Lord's  crucifixion 
a  short  staff  must  have  been  nailed 
above  the  patibulum  to  support  the 
superscription,  and  this,  of  course, 
gives  us  the  Latin  cross.  The  cross 
upon  which  S.  Andrew  is  fabled  to 
have  suffered  has  the  form  of  the 
letter  X  (Fig.  80,  j).  Such  a  cross 
was  undoubtedly  used,  but  it  is 
rarely  depicted  upon  Christian  mon- 
uments. The  common  use  of  the 
Latin  cross  dates  from  the  sixth 
century.  It  is  specially  noticeable 
on  the  monuments  of  the  Arian 
Gothic  rule  at  Ravenna.  It  seems 
to  have  grown  out  of  the  use  of  pro- 
cessional crosses  and  the  representa- 
tions of  the  cross  in  the  form  of  a  staff  which  were  already 
common  in  the  fifth  century  (Fig.  110).  Such  a  cross  is  carried 
by  Christ  himself  (Figs.  109,  141),  and  by  Apostles  and  saints 
(Fig.  130) ;  and  it  was  the  special  attribute  of  S.  Peter  (Fig. 
101).  It  is  evident  that  there  was  no  intention  of  realism  in 
this  elongation  of  the  staff ;  but  it  is  probable  that  it  was  from 
this  that  the  mediaeval  artists  got  the  idea  that  in  our  Lord's 
crucifixion  he  was  elevated  high  above  the  ground,  a  conception 
which  by  no  means  corresponds  with  the  representations  of 
the  crucifixion  in  early  Christian  art  (see  p.  276). 


Fig.  63.  —  Crux  gemmata,  fresco  in 
the  catacomb  of  Pontianus.  Eighth 
century. 


PAIN  77  VO  —  The   Virgin  Mary 


245 


THE    VIRGIN    MARY 

Attention  has  already  been  drawn  to  the  pictures  which 
represent  the  Virgin  in  connection  with  the  visit  of  the  Magi. 
Other  scenes  in  which  the  Virgin  occurs  are  rare  in  the  cata- 
combs.  There  is  a  very  much  damaged  fresco  in  the  catacomb 
of  Priscilla  which  is  supposed  to  represent  the  Annunciation. 
The  instance  is  doubtful,  though  the  fact  that  the  figure  which 

is   taken  to  represent      _  

the    angel  is  without  ^-~      /  q 

wings     is    no    proof     m^/ 
against  it,  for  angels 
were  not  represented     i*    . '.  ._^ 

with  wings  during 
the  first  three  centu- 
ries. It  may  be  re- 
marked, in  passing, 
that  many  of  the 
early  winged  angels 
follow  closely  the 
type  of  victories.  A 
distinctively  Chris- 
tian type  of  angel 
was  developed  in  the 
mosaics  of  the  basil- 
icas (Figs.  138,  139), 
but  winged  figures 
first  became  really 
popular  in  the  crude 
Lombard  art  of  the 
early  Middle  Ages. 

The  Annunciation 
is  represented  on  the  arch  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  and  upon  the 
end  of  a  fifth  century  sarcophagus  in  Eavenna.  In  the  latter 
case  the  Virgin  is  represented  spinning,  according  to  one  of 
the  apochryphal  accounts.  On  the  other  side  of  the  same 
sarcophagus  is  represented  her  meeting  with  Elizabeth. 

Fig.  84  illustrates  a  very  interesting  fresco  in  S.  Eriscilla  of 
about  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  It  is  sadly  damaged, 
yet  it  is  still  notable  for  the  grace  of  its  composition ;  it  sug- 


Fig.  S4.  —Virgin  and  Child,  with  a  prophet,  who  points 
to  a  star,  fresco  in  the  catacomb  of  Priscilla.  Middle 
of  the  second  centurv. 


246 


PICTORIAL   ART 


gests  one  of  Raphael's  Madonnas,  and  prompts  the  curious 
reflection  that  in  the  long  interval  between  that  unknown 
painter  and  the   Italian  artists  of  the  early  Renascence  there 


SC  ULPTURE  —  Introductory  247 

was,  perhaps,  no  one  who  could  draw  such  a  group.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  man,  who  is  clad  in  the  philosopher's  pallium, 
is  pointing  to  a  star.  It  is  not  perfectly  clear  what  the  picture 
represents,  but  the  man  is  commonly  taken  to  be  a  prophet 
foretelling  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  he  is  identified  as  Isaiah  or 
as  Balaam. 

Another  highly  interesting  picture  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  85 ; 
it  is  from  the  same  cemetery,  but  it  belongs  to  the  following 
century.  The  woman  standing  in  the  middle  in  the  posture  of 
the  orans  represents,  it  is  supposed,  a  consecrated  virgin  who 
was  buried  in  this  tomb.  It  is  supposed  with  good  reason  that 
the  scene  in  the  background,  at  the  left,  represents  her  conse- 
cration to  the  virginal  life.  The  virgin  holds  the  veil  in  her 
hand,  while  the  bishop,  who  sits  in  his  cathedra  and  is  assisted 
by  his  deacon,  admonishes  her  by  pointing  to  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin as  the  pattern  of  her  life. 

B.    SCULPTURE 

Christian  sculpture  hardly  existed  before  the  fourth  century. 
The  gloom  of  the  catacombs  was  not  favorable  to  it ;  and,  be- 
sides, carved  sarcophagi  were  articles  of  luxury  which  were 
within  the  means  of  few  Christians,  and  were  to  be  acquired 
only  in  pagan  shops.  The  nearest  approach  to  sculpture  which 
we  commonly  find  are  designs  engraved  on  stone  —  graffiti  — 
which  might  be  wrought  upon  the  spot ;  or  statues  and  reliefs 
which  represented  themes,  the  Christian  meaning  of  which  was 
hidden  (like  the  Good  Shepherd),  and  which  might,  therefore, 
be  executed  in  the  public  studios.  With  the  fourth  century, 
the  public  recognition  of  Christianity,  the  increased  wealth  of 
the  Church,  and  above  all  the  growing  custom  of  burial  above 
ground  encouraged  the  use  of  sculptured  sarcophagi.  The 
sarcophagi  constituted  the  chief  exponent  of  Christian  art  in 
sculpture,  though  there  are  numerous  examples  of  reliefs  in 
ivory  (chiefly  diptychs,  Gospel  covers,  and  boxes  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  relics),  and  we  have  the  record  of  important  works 
in  gold  and  silver  (in  relief  and  in  the  round)  which  once  orna- 
mented the  basilicas. 

With  the  first  emergence  of  Christian  sculpture  in  the  fourth 
century,  the  art  was  already  at  a  low  ebb.     It  is  probable  that 


248 


PICTORIAL   ART 


the  attitude  of  the  Eastern  churches  was  from  the  beginning 
hostile  to  sculpt  me.  The  iconoclastic  spirit  which  was  ulti- 
mately destined  to  become  an  important  i'aet.or  in  the  definitive 
separation  of  the  East  and  West  was  very  early  manifested, 
ami  it  is  not  likely  thai  we  have  lost  many  important  monu- 
ments of  sculpture  (sarcophagi,  etc.)  among  the  ruined  and 
unexplored  cities  of  the  Orient.  In  Central  Syria,  where  the 
architectural  monuments  are  so  admirably  preserved,  we  find 
almost  no  statuary  and  but  few  figured  reliefs;  the  art  of 
sculpture  was  there  almost  entirely  confined  to  decorative 
designs  in  low  relief.  In  Constantinople  figures  in  low  relief 
were  at  all  times  permitted  without  offence,  and  a  fair  skill 
was  preserved  in  ivory  carving  and  in  bronze  moulding  until 
the  Middle  Ages. 

In  the  West  the  monuments  do  not  lead  us  to  suppose  that 
the  art  was  discouraged  by  religious  opposition  ;  but  there  the 


Fig.  S6.— Lid  of  a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum.     Fourth  century.     Tl 
—  three  Magi  and  a  shepherd  visiting  the  infant  Jesus. 


Kpipl 


social  conditions  were  unfavorable  to  its  development  or  pres- 
ervation. We  see  from  the  clumsy  reliefs  of  the  arch  of  Con- 
stantine  how  little  necessity  there  is  to  attribute  the  decadence 
of  art  to  Christian  indifference.  If  imperial  patronage  could 
accomplish  nothing  better,  we  have  rather  reason  for  astonish- 
ment that  even  private  monuments  of  a  later  date  sometimes 
exhibit  greater  skill.  Statues  in  the  round  were  very  rare. 
From  the  literary  records  we  have  to  judge  that  they  were 
more  often  executed  in  gold  and  silver  than  in  stone.  And  it 
may  very  well  be  that  the  costliness  of  the  material  was  meant 
to  compensate  for  rudeness  of  form.  The  art  decayed  rapidly 
in  the  fifth  century,  and  it  is  useless  to  expect  any  good  exam- 
ples of  it  later  than  the  sixth.  Eude  repetitions  of  early  sar- 
cophagi and  ivories  were,  however,  made  from  time  to  time, 
carrying  down  to  the  Middle  Ages,  if  not  the  technic,  at  least 


SCULPTURE  — Introdnr/nr;/ 


249 


some  of  the  general  artistic  motives  of  the  early  period.  We 
have  to  consider  chiefly  the  Roman  school  of  sculpture.  In 
the  West  the  provincial  peculiarities  of  style  were  too  slighl 
to  be  worthy  of  mention  in  so  general  a  treatment.  We  see 
from  the  sarcophagi  that  in  Africa  the  art  of  sculpture  fol- 
lowed closely  the  Roman  traditions.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
sculptural  schpol  of  Provence,  of  which  Aries  was  the  centre; 
other  parts  of  Gaul  which  had  less  close  relations  with  Rome 
sIioav  greater  divergence,  especially  in  the  choice  of  subjects. 
In  Ravenna  the  arts  of  sculpture  and  mosaic  enjoyed  a  revival 
which  lasted  from  the  middle  of  the  fifth  to  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century.  This  requires  special  notice.  We  can,  however, 
take  no  account  of  the  crude  beginnings  of  art  among  the  Lom- 
bards, Celts,  and  Goths. 

The  themes  which  were  developed  in  the  art  of  the  cata- 
combs were,  for  the  most  part,  perpetuated  upon  the  sarcoph- 


Fig.  ST.  — Lid  of  a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum.    Christ  dividing  the  sheep  from 

the  goats. 


agi,  where  their  sepulchral  symbolism  was  equally  in  place; 
even  in  other  monuments,  in  which  the  interest  was  wholly 
historical,  the  force  of  the  tradition  was  clearly  apparent.  At 
the  same  time,  in  the  decoration  both  of  sarcophagi  and  of 
other  monuments,  the  range  of  subjects  was  very  much  ex- 
tended. This  was  chiefly  due  to  the  historical  and  didactic 
interest  which  then  began  to  make  itself  felt  in  Christian  art. 
This  new  interest  reflected  the  character  of  the  religious  in- 
struction of  that  period,  as  represented  by  the  Biblical  com- 
mentaries and  homilies  which  then  began  to  form  the  stock  of 
ecclesiastical  literature.  These  new  themes  of  art  are  too  vari- 
ous to  be  readily  classified,  and  they  can  be  noticed  only  inci- 
dentally in  the  course  of  the  description  of  some  of  the  most 
notable  monuments.  Here  it  is  necessary  to  mention  only  the 
fact  that  to  our  Lord's  miracles,  and  to  the  other  scenes  in  which 
he  was  represented  in  the  early  art  of  the  catacombs,  there 


'J  ill) 


PICTORIAL   ART 


were  added  several  scenes  connected  with  his  Passion.  Christ 
appears  also  in  certain  symbolical  representations  which  were 
new  to  the  art  of  the  fourth  century  and  very  different  from 
the  funereal  themes  which  we  have  been  studying.  These  new 
themes  constituted  what  may  be  called  an  ecclesiastical  sym- 
bolism:  they  represent  Christ  enthroned  in  the  midst  of  his 


fir 

4 

Fig.  8S.  —  Fragment  of  a  sarcophagus  from  the  catacomb  of  Callistus.    Ulysses  and  the  Sirens. 

Apostles,  committing  to  them,  as  the  official  representatives  of 
the  Church,  his  Gospel  and  his  Law ;  or  receiving  the  homage 
of  saints  and  martyrs  who  come  to  lay  their  crowns  before  him. 
These  themes  belong  properly  to  the  decoration  of  the  basilicas, 
and  they  will  be  studied  more  particularly  under  the  head  of  mo- 


Fig.  89.  —  Lid  of  a  sarcophagus.  Fourth  century.  The  Three  Children  refusing  to  worship 
the  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar  :  the  star  proves  that  they  represent  likewise  the  three 
Magi  refusing  to  obey  Herod ;  at  the  right  the  Magi  offer  their  gifts  to  Jesus. 

saics.  They  were,  however,  not  improperly  reproduced  upon  the 
sarcophagi,  since  their  eschatological  reference  was  very  plain. 
One  of  the  minor  characteristics  of  the  art  of  the  fourth 
century  was  an  interest  in  portraiture,  of  which  there  are  hardly 
any  examples  earlier.  Almost  all  of  the  portraits  in  the  cata- 
combs belong  to  that  century,  and  the  portrait  busts  which 
were  common  on  the  sarcophagi  still  exhibit  something  of  the 
Roman  genius  for  this  branch  of  art.  In  the  century  follow- 
ing there  was  commenced  in  the  basilica  of  S.  Paul  the  in- 
teresting series  of  portraits  or  idealizations  of  the  bishops 
of  Rome,  and  a  century  later  this  example  was  followed  at 
Ravenna  in  a  series  of  portraits  of  the  bishops  of  that  city. 


SCULPTURE  —  Introductory 


251 


Fro.  90.  —  Bronze  medal,  S3. 
Peter  and  Paul.  Fourth 
century. 


We  may  consider  here,  for  lack  of  a  more  appropriate  place, 
the  distinctive  treatment  which  was  accorded  in  art  to  the  two 
chief  Apostles,  Peter  and  Paul.  Apart 
from  the  ideal  representations  of  Christ 
which  were  developed  after  the  fourth 
century,  there  was  no  attempt  at  individ- 
ualizing any  of  the  Biblical  characters 
except  S.  Peter  and  S.  Paul.  They  alone 
of  the  Apostles  had  been  in  Rome,  and 
there  is  certainly  not  excluded  the  possi- 
bility that  a  reminiscence  of  their  personal 
appearance  may  have  been  preserved.  It 
is  evident,  however,  that  the  frequency 
with  which  these  two  Apostles  are  repre- 
sented together,  constituted  a  practical  necessity  for  distinguish- 
ing them,  which  did  not  exist  in  the  case  of  other  characters. 
On  the  sarcophagi  alone  they  are  represented  some  twenty -four 
times,  with  or  without 
the  rest  of  the  Twelve, 
on  either  side  of  the  en- 
throned Christ.  In  the 
same  way  they  are  fre- 
quently depicted  in  the 
mosaics.  On  the  gold- 
glasses,  only  these  two 
Apostles  were  generally 
represented.  It  was  nec- 
essary in  all  these  cases 
to  distinguish  them  by 
their  facial  types.  They 
were  distinguished  till  a 
comparatively  late  date 
by  no  conventional  at- 
tributes :  S.  Peter  did 
not  carry  the  cross,  nor 
the  key,  till  the  fifth  century;  S.  Paul  was  not  given  the 
sword  till  the  tenth.  There  was,  however,  a  general,  though 
not  invariable,  convention  of  representing  Paul  on  the  right 
and  Peter  on  the  left  of  Christ. 

In  all  of  the  representations  the  two  Apostles  are  plainly 


Fig.  91.- 


Bronze  medal.  SS.  Paul  and  Peter.     Third 
century. 


252  PICTOBIAL  ART 

distinguished  by  very  different  physical  types,  which  became 
thoroughly  fixed  in  early  Christian  art,  and  have  been  substan- 
tially retained  through  all  subsequent  developments.  These 
characterizations  of  the  Apostles  were  so  uniformly  followed, 

and  may  be  traced  back  to  so  early  a  date,  as  to  suggest  the 
possibility  that  they  originated  in  veritable  portraits.  An  ad- 
mirable bronze  medal  (Fig.  91),  now  in  the  Christian  Museum 
of  the  Vatican,  represents  the  heads  of  the  two  Apostles  with 
extraordinary  vigor,  and  with  the  evident  intention  of  either 
repeating  or  creating  a  portrait  type.  It  was  found  early  in 
the  eighteenth  century  by  Boldetti  in  the  catacomb  of  Domi- 
tilla.  De  Rossi  ascribes  it  to  the  second  century,  and  at  all 
events  it  is  hardly  to  be  put  later  than  the  third.  Another 
bronze  medal  (Fig.  90)  in  the  Vatican  illustrates  the  cruder 
representations  of  the  fourth  century ;  this  elongated  type  of 
face  was  especially  common  on  the  gold-glasses.  In  the  better 
specimens  of  sculpture  and  mosaic  the  portraits  of  the  Apos- 
tles closely  approach  the  type  of  the  earlier  medal.  If  these 
are  not  actually  portraits  of  Peter  and  Paul,  they  are  cer- 
tainly very  admirable  idealizations.  There  is  great  vigor, 
albeit  a  certain  physical  coarseness,  in  the  round  head  of 
Peter  set  upon  a  thick  neck.  This  Apostle  is  further  distin- 
guished from  S.  Paul  by  his  short,  curly  locks  and  close-clipped 
beard.  Paul's  is  the  intellectual  head :  a  high  straight  fore- 
head, made  more  prominent  by  his  baldness,  and  a  great  frontal 
angle.  The  most  serious  objection  one  can  raise  to  these  por- 
traits is  that  they  are  not  Jewish  types.  But  they  are  highly 
interesting  even  as  idealizations,  and  all  the  more  so  because 
they  constitute  the  most  striking  instance  of  the  continuous 
influence  of  early  Christian  ideals  in  art. 

SARCOPHAGI 

Even  after  the  Peace  of  the  Church,  Christians  were  often 
satisfied  to  procure  their  sarcophagi  from  pagan  shops  ;  it  was 
enough  if  the  decoration  were  of  a  neutral  character,  or  that 
it  had  at  least  no  express  associations  with  paganism.  It  is 
to  be  observed,  moreover,  that  the  decoration  even  of  the  Chris- 
tian sarcophagi  was  more  strongly  influenced  by  the  Classical 
traditions  than  was  any  other  branch  of  Christian  art.     The 


80  UL  P  T  UBE  —  Sarcophagi 


253 


artisans,  it  would  appear,  must  often  have  been  strangely  con- 
fused between  their  old  and  their  new  religion.  It  must  be 
remembered,  however,  that  many  figures  which  had  originally 
a  definite  religious  significance  were  so  constantly  employed  as 
mere  elements  of  decoration  that  they  lost  their  expressly  pagan 
significance  for  the  popular  consciousness.  There  are  very 
few  sarcophagi  on  which  one  has  not  to  remark  the  influence 
of  the  Classical  models:  in  the  cupids  or  victories  which  sup- 
port the  epitaph  or  the  portraits  of  the  deceased,  in  the  Medusa 
heads,  in  the  huge  masks  which  compose  the  corners  of  the  lid, 
in  the  Dioscuri,  in  the  genii  which  represent  the  seasons,  or 
hold  an  inverted  torch,  in  the  person- 
ifications of  the  heavens,  the  winds, 
the  rivers,  the  sea,  and  the  moun- 
tains, in  the  marine  monsters,  in 
the  Tritons  blowing  the  shell,  in  the 
lions  devouring  some  animal,  in  the 
griffons,  the  mythical  guardians  of 
the  tomb,  or  in  the  scenes  of  the 
chase  and  of  rustic  life. 

The  Classical  tradition  is  no  less 
apparent  in  the  constant  effort  after 
symmetry  and  an  harmonious  group- 
ing of  the  composition.  Some  have 
attempted  to  trace  a  doctrinal  sym- 
bolism in  the  arrangement  of  the 
subjects  upon  the  sarcophagi ;    but  it 

must  be  confessed  that  in  general  the  desire  for  symmetry  was 
the  ruling  motive  in  the  composition,  and  next  to  that  we  have 
to  rank  the  zeal  to  crowd  as  many  subjects  as  possible  into  a 
small  field  —  a  procedure  which  was  sadly  subversive  of  classic 
taste.  Finally,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  Christian  sar- 
cophagi, like  the  Classic,  were  usually  embellished  by  color  or 
gilding,  though  the  traces  of  it  have  generally  quite  disap- 
peared. 

Even  ornamental  sarcophagi  did  not  require  a  figured  deco- 
ration over  the  whole  front.  Very  many  of  them  were  orna- 
mented by  undulating  channels  (Fig.  16),  called  strigils,  from 
their  likeness  to  the  instrument  with  which  the  athletes 
scraped  the  oil  and  sand  from  their  bodies  after  exercise  in 


Fig.  92.  —An  orans. 
screen. 


254 


ricToiiiAL  Airr 


the  gymnasium.  Other  conventional  patterns  were  borrowed 
In mii  the  designs  which  were  common  for  chancels  (Fig.  92). 
Room  was  usually  left  in  the  middle  of  the  field  for  the  repre- 
sentation of  an  orans,  or  a  Good  Shepherd,  or  merely  for  the 
inscription. 

Perhaps  the  most  ancient  of  the  strictly  Christian  sarcoph- 
agi  is  that  of  Livia  Primitiva  (Fig.  16),  which  was  found  near 
the  tomb  of  S.  Peter,  and  belongs  probably  to  the  second  cen- 
tury. The  Good  Shepherd,  the  fish,  and  the  anchor  which 
decorate  it  are  not  sculptured  in  relief,  but  merely  engraved 
upon  the  surface.  Figure  93  illustrates  an  early  sarcophagus 
which  is  to  be  ascribed  with  probability  to  the  third  century,  or 


Fig.  93. 


-Sarcophagus  in   the   Lateran    Museum.     Third  century.     Th< 
repeated  three  times  in  the  midst  of  a  vintage  of  genii. 


d  Shepherd 


not  later  than  the  early  years  of  the  fourth.  There  is  nothing 
distinctively  Christian  in  the  design,  and  it  may  very  well  have 
been  made  by  a  pagan  artist.  Of  the  three  shepherds  which 
appear  on  it,  the  middle  one  is  bearded.  As  in  this  instance, 
the  figure  of  the  Good  Shepherd  often  served  to  introduce 
scenes  of  rustic  life,  for  which  Classical  art  furnished  ready 
models.  Here  we  have  a  vintage  gathered  by  genii,  a  common 
scene  in  pagan  art,  and  one  which  was  capable  of  interpre- 
tation in  a  Christian  sense.  This  became  a  favorite  theme 
in  the  reign  of  Constantine.  The  great  porphyry  sarcophagus 
of  Constantia  (now  in  the  Vatican  Museum)  has  a  decora- 
tion of  this  character,  though  of  much  less  lively  and  graceful 
design;  and  the  same  theme  is  repeated  in  a  very  charming 
manner  in  the  mosaics  which  adorned  the  ceiling  of  her 
mausoleum  (Fig.  125).     Of  all  Christian  sarcophagi  the  most 


SC  UL  P  TUBE  —  Sarcophagi 


255 


thoroughly  Classical,  both  in  execution  and  design,  are  two 
of  the  third  century  in  the  Lateran  Museum,  which  are  num- 
bered respectively  1G3  and  181  in  that  collection.  The  first 
is  divided  laterally  into  three  sections.  In  the  middle  stands 
a  defunct  matron  between  SS.  Peter  and  Paul ;  at  both  ends 
is  represented  the  Good  Shepherd  carrying  a  lamb  on  his 
shoulders.  In  the  second  there  is  no  division  into  compart- 
ments; at  the  ends  are  seated  a  man  and  a  woman,  each 
accompanied  by  two  other  persons  of  the  same  sex  repre- 
senting the  company  of  the  saints  in  paradise,  and  both  of 
them  are  looking  toward  the  Good  Shepherd,  who  occupies 
the  middle  of  the  composition. 


Fig.  94.  —  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum.  Fourth  century.  Two  fishermen,  three 
scenes  from  the  story  of  Jonah,  Noah  in  the  ark,  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  the  water  from 
the  rock,  Moses  assailed  by  the  Hebrews,  the  Good  Shepherd. 


It  was  very  rarely  that  the  artists  were  content  to  adorn  a 
sarcophagus  with  a  single  theme.  The  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea 
lent  itself  most  readily  to  this  purpose ;  and  many  of  the 
details  of  the  representation  recall  the  scenes  of  combat  which 
appear  upon  pagan  tombs.  It  is  most  commonly  upon  the  lids 
that  we  find  the  representation  of  a  single  subject;  and  owing 
to  this,  the  composition  of  the  lid  is  often  more  graceful  than 
that  of  the  sarcophagus  itself.  In  the  Roman  type  the  lid  was 
nearly  flat,  or  with  a  low  gable  at  the  end,  and  it  left  a  narrow 
field  in  front  for  sculpture.  A  number  of  lids  containing  one 
or  two  subjects  are  illustrated  in  Figs.  86-89.  The  fewer  sub- 
jects the  artist  attempted  to  include  in  his  design,  the  nearer 
it  was  likely  to  approach  the  grace  of  the  pagan  prototypes. 
But  it  early  became  the  custom  to  crowd  the  subjects  so  closely 
together  that  the  general  effect  was  very  much  impaired. 


256 


ricroniAL  art 


The  three  scenes,  for  example,  which  illustrate  the  story  of 
Jonah  might  very  well  have  been  allowed  to  occupy  the  whole 
Held.  But  we  see  in  Fig.  01  how  the  artist  lias  utilized 
every  inch  of  space  for  additional  symbols.  He  takes  advan- 
tage of  the  water  which  was  needed  for  Jonah's  sea  to  repre- 
sent various  sorts  of  fish,  and  two  fishermen,  each  accompanied 
by  a  naked  lad.     Behind  the  monster  he  depicts  Noah  floating 


Fig.  95.  —  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum,  formerly  in  S.  Paul's.  Fourth  or  fifth 
century.  The  Holy  Trinity  and  the  creation  of  man,  the  Logos  between  Adam  and  Eve, 
the  miracle  at  Cana,  multiplication  of  the  loaves  and  fishes,  raising  of  Lazarus,  the  Epiph- 
any, healing,  of  the  blind,  Daniel  among  the  lions  fed  by  Habakkuk,  the  denial  of  Peter, 
arrest  of  Moses  (Peter),  Moses  (Peter)  striking  the  rock. 

in  his  ark  and  receiving  the  olive  branch  from  the  dove.  He 
takes  advantage  of  the  grassy  slope  upon  which  Jonah  reclines 
beneath  his  gourd  to  represent  a  pastoral  scene,  the  Good 
Shepherd  gathering  his  sheep  into  the  fold  —  which  is  here 
depicted  in  the  form  of  a  church.  The  wind  and  the  sun  are 
represented  by  human  figures  as  in  Classical  prototypes.  The 
subject  would  seem  to  defy  the  principle  of  symmetry,  but  in 
this  composition  there  is  striking  proof  of  the  strength  of  this 
tendency.  One  will  notice  that  admirable  balance  is  combined 
with  variety  in  the  central  portion  of  the  field;  at  the  ends, 
the  symmetry  is  more  pronounced ;  below,  the  two  fishermen 
balance  one  another ;  and  above,  the  ecclesiastical  fold  is  set 
over  against  the  temple-like  tomb  of  Lazarus. 


SCULPTURE—  Sarcophagi  257 

The  figure  kneeling  at  the  foot  of  Christ  in  this  illustration 
represents  the  woman  whom  he  healed  of  the  issue  of  blood. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  this  figure,  which  occurs  very  fre- 
quently, stands  generally  for  the  Canaanitish  woman,  for  Mary 
Magdalene,  and  for  all  the  women  in  whom  the  Lord  showed 
his  grace  and  power;  just  as  the  figure  of  the  blind  man 
epitomizes   all   his  works  of    healing  upon  men.      The   next 


Fig.  96.  —  End  of  a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum.  Fourth  century.  Moses  with  the 
tables  of  the  Law,  the  water  from  the  rock,  the  woman  with  the  issue,  churches  of  Jeru- 
salem in  background. 

scene  is  that  of  Moses  striking  the  rock,  to  which  the  thirsty 
Hebrews  rush  to  drink.  The  last  is  Moses  assaulted  by  the 
Hebrews. 

"We  note  in  the  above  instance  a  division  of  the  field  into 
two  zones  —  a  principle  which  was  usually  carried  out  much 
more  rigidly  in  order  to  allow  of  the  representation  of  the 
greatest  possible  number  of  figures. 

The  common  arrangement  is  well  illustrated  in  Fig.  95,  a 
sarcophagus  of  the  fourth  century,  which  was  once  in  S.  Paul's 


258 


ncTOUIAL   ART 


and, is  now  in  the  Lateran  Museum.  We  see  here  that  the 
efforl  after  symmetry  has  resulted  in  a  monotonous  uniformity. 
The  attitude  of  the  individual  figures  is  good,  but  the  general 
effect  is  impaired  by  crowding.  In  this  case  the  faces  are  very 
roughly  finished.  It  may  be  noticed,  by  the  way,  that  the 
busts  of  the  deceased  couple  are  only  blocked  out,  and  that  the 
lid  has  received  neither  carving  nor  inscription.  We  have  in 
this  an  intimation  of  the  fact  that  the  sarcophagi  were  not  gen- 
erally made  to  order,  but  selected  out  of  the  general  stock  of 
a  studio,  ready  made  except  for  the  inscription  and  portraits 
which  had  to  be  added  after  the  purchase.     In  this  case,  for 


Fig.  97. 


-Fragment  of  a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum.     Fourth  century.     Elijah 
giving  his  mantle  to  Elisha,  the  sons  of  the  prophets  and  the  bear. 


some  reason  or  another,  neither  the  portraits  nor  the  inscription 
were  executed. 

The  centre  of  the  composition  is  plainly  marked  by  the  shell, 
which  contains  the  busts  of  the  deceased,  and  is  supported 
by  two  little  cupids ;  and  below,  by  the  group  of  Daniel  between 
the  lions,  to  whom  Habakkuk  offers  a  loaf  of  bread.  The  fig- 
ures which  here  and  elsewhere  appear  in  the  background  have 
no  significance,  and  are  added  only  to  fill  out  the  space.  There 
is  in  this  case  an  unusually  strict  symmetry  of  arrangement 
between  the  upper  and  the  lower  zone.  Moses  striking  the 
rock  corresponds  to  the  raising  of  Lazarus.  At  the  other  end 
God  is  seated  upon  a  throne,  —  or  rather  a  cathedra  velata,  — 
and  below,  seated  upon  a  similar  cathedra  (without  a  covering), 


S  C  UL  r  T  UR  E  —  Sa  rcoph  a;/  i  259 

the  Virgin  and  Child  receive  the  adoration  of  the  Magi.  The 
figure  behind  the  Virgin  may  be  taken  to  be  Joseph.  Above,  a 
similar  figure  stands  behind  the  throne  of  God  and  another  in 
front  of  it.  These  figures  must  be  taken  to  represent  the  Trin- 
ity, although  the  subject  is  absolutely  unique  in  Christian  art. 
They  might  be  supposed  to  be  merely  accessory  figures  designed 
to  fill  up  the  background,  like  those  which  we  have  already 
noticed,  were  it  not  that  the  front  figure  is  cooperating  with 
God  by  laying  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  Eve  who  has  just 
been  formed.  This  evidently  represents  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
symbolizes  the  breathing  into  man  the  breath  ("spirit")  of 
life.  Just  as  in  Christ's  attitude  in  blessing  the  loaves  and 
fishes  we  see  the  gesture  which  was  used  in  the  consecration  of 
the  eucharistic  elements,  so  here  we  see  the  gesture  which  was 
used  in  the  Church  in  confirmation,  in  ordination,  or  in  any 
bestowal  of  spiritual  gifts.  Representations  of  God  the  Father 
are  exceedingly  infrequent  in  early  Christian  art,  and  they  are 
almost  exclusively  confined  to  the  rare  scenes  which  depict  the 
creation  of  man.  We  have  absolutely  no  other  representation 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  except  under  the  symbol  of  the  dove.  The 
scene  next  in  order  is  a  more  common  one  :  Christ,  the  Logos, 
standing  between  Adam  and  Eve  and  apportioning  to  them 
their  respective  labors  —  represented  by  the  sheep  and  the 
sheaf  of  wheat.  This  scene  symbolizes  also  the  promise  of 
redemption  which  was  made  to  our  first  parents.  The  fall  is 
represented  by  the  serpent  coiled  about  the  tree.  Christ  is 
here  represented  beardless  and  young,  with  long  locks,  just  as 
he  appears  in  the  scenes  which  represent  his  earthly  life,  and 
in  contrast  to  the  aged  bearded  persons  who  represent  the 
Trinity  in  the  first  scene.  Next  in  order  come  the  symbols  of 
the  Eucharist :  the  turning  of  the  water  into  wine,  and  the 
multiplication  of  the  loaves  and  fishes.  Immediately  asso- 
ciated with  this  is  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  the  symbol  of  the 
resurrection.  At  the  feet  of  Christ  kneels  the  woman  with  an 
issue. 

Next  to  the  Magi  is  the  healing  of  the  blind  man,  then 
Daniel,  and  then  Christ  foretelling  to  Peter  his  denial.  The 
cock  clearly  designates  this  scene.  The  gesture  which  Peter 
makes  with  his  hand  to  his  chin  indicated  perplexity ;  Pilate's 
attitude   of  mind  is  commonly  expressed  in  the   same   way. 


•2(50 


nciDiuM,  Airr 


Christ's  gesture  in  this  scene  is  that  which  is  commonly  called 
the  Roman  benediction,  with  the  fourth  and  little  finger  closed 
and  the  others  open.  The  position  of  the  fingers  is  the  same 
in  the  act  of  creation  and  in  the  healing  of  the  blind.  But  in 
this  instance  we  see  that  it  is  not  a  gesture  of  blessing,  but 
simply  the  accompaniment  of  his  address.  We  learn,  in  fact, 
from  Christian  and  pagan  monuments,  that  this  was  the  com- 
monest gesture  in  oratory,  and  it  was,  therefore,  quite  naturally, 
though  only  incidentally,  used  in  the  address  of  benediction. 
Many  of  the  ancient  pictures  of  Christ  —  particularly  in  the 
mosaics  —  have  been  taken  to  represent  him  in  the  act  of  bene- 
diction when  they  really  denote  simply  the  gesture  of  address. 


us  in  the  Lateral]  Museum 

multiplication  of  the  loaves  and  fishes,  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  healing  of  the  blind,  denial  of 
Peter,  the  Logos  between  Adam  and  Eve,  Moses  taking  off  his  shoes,  the  woman  with 
the  issue,  the  miracle  of  Cana,  Jonah,  Daniel  between  the  lions,  arrest  of  Moses,  water 
from  the  rock. 


The  so-called  Greek  benediction,  in  which  the  thumb  and  third 
finger  are  crossed  in  the  palm  and  the  other  three  fingers 
open,  was  likewise  a  common  gesture  in  oratory,  and  it  was 
only  in  the  course  of  the  Middle  Ages  that  it  became  dis- 
tinctive of  the  Eastern  Church  and  confined  to  the  act  of 
benediction. 

It  is  strange  that  the  fall  of  Peter  was  represented  so  often 
upon  Roman  monuments.  The  special  interest  of  this  scene 
probably  lay  in  the  fact  that  it  afforded  a  justification  of  the 
Catholic  practice  —  hotly  contested  by  certain  sectarians  —  of 
readmitting  to  the  Church  through  penance  those  who  had 
lapsed  by  the  denial  of  their  religion  in  order  to  escape  martyr- 


SCULPTURE  —  Sarcophagi 


2G1 


dom.  This  cannot  be  intended,  at  all  events,  as  a  derogation 
of  Peter's  primacy,  which  was  generally  recognized  in  the  fourth 
century  and  is  here  very  characteristically  expressed  in  the 
following  scenes.  These  scenes  represent  Moses  assaulted  by 
the  rebellious  Hebrews,  and  finally  satisfying  their  demands  by 
striking  water  from  the  rock.  The  Hebrews  are  here  as  usual 
distinguished,  by  their  flat  caps  and  their  pantaloons.  But  it 
is  claimed  that  Moses  in  these  two  instances  represents  Peter, 
and  it  is  remarked  that  the  faces  of  these  three  figures  precisely 
correspond.     The  argument  from  mere  resemblance  is  but  a 


Fig.  99.  —  Sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  Museum.  Fourth  century.  The  raising  of  Lazarus, 
denial  of  Peter,  Moses  receiving  the  Law,  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  Christ  before  Pilate,  the  water 
from  the  rock,  Baniel  between  the  lions,  an  obscure  subject,  the  paralytic  carrying  his 
bed,  healing  of  the  blind,  multiplication  of  the  loaves  and  fishes. 


weak  one  in  this  case,  where  the  execution  is  so  rough  and  all 
the  figures  are  so  much  alike ;  but  we  have  already  seen  that 
Peter  is  elsewhere  expressly  identified  with  Moses  striking  the 
rock,  and  the  only  adequate  explanation  we  can  suggest  for  the 
frequent  repetition  of  the  Hebrews'  assault  upon  Moses  is  that 
it  represents  at  the  same  time  the  arrest  of  Peter  at  Eome. 
The  Scriptures  do  not  record  that  the  Hebrews  ever  took  vio- 
lent hold  of  Moses.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  evident  that  the 
arrest  of  Peter,  which  is  represented  in  Pig.  100  (second  sub- 
ject from  the  left  above),  closely  corresponds  with  this  scene. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  Christ  foretold  to  Peter  not  only 
his  denial  but  his  martyrdom,  saying,"  When  thou  art  old,  thou 


202 


riCTOlUAL   AliT 


shalt  stretch  forth  thy  hands,  and  another  shall  gird  thee,  and 
i;inv  thee  whither  thon  wouldest  not."     There  is  marked  ap- 


SC  UL  PTUB  E  —  Sarcophagi  203 

propriateness  in  representing  here  the  martyrdom  of  Peter  with 

which  he  atoned  for  his  denial,  in  the  next  scene,  as  the  offi- 
cial representative  of  the  Church,  as  the  rock  upon  which  it 
was  founded,  he  refreshes  the  world  with  the  floods  of  baptism 
which  How  from  that  other  rock,  which  is  Christ. 

Reviewing  briefly  the  principal  ideas  of  this  sarcophagus, 
we  have :  the  divine  Trinity,  the  creation  of  man,  his  fall  and 
the  promise  of  the  Redeemer;  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist 
and  the  resurrection,  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Apostolic  Church  which  renews  the  sinful 
race  through  baptism. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  no  other  sarcophagus  shows  so 
profound  a  connection  of  ideas.  It  is  certain  that  the  artists 
themselves  had  often  no  conception  of  the  deeper  ideas  which 
underlay  the  themes  which  they  repeated,  and  we  are  usually 
left  in  doubt  whether  there  is  any  intelligent  connection  to  be 
traced  between  the  subjects  which  are  closely  strung  together, 
or  whether  the  arrangement  is  due  wholly  to  hazard. 

Figure  98  illustrates  a  sarcophagus  which  is  closely  related 
to  the  preceding;  it  is  very  much  better  executed,  but  the 
arrangement  seems  to  be  entirely  arbitrary  and  unreflecting. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  enumerate  briefly  the  subjects:  the 
raising  of  Lazarus,  the  multiplication  of  the  loaves,  the  sacri- 
fice of  Isaac,  the  healing  of  the  blind,  Peter's  denial,  the  Logos 
between  Adam  and  Eve,  Moses  taking  off  his  shoes,  the  woman 
with  the  issue,  the  water  pots  of  Cana,  the  three  incidents  of 
Jonah's  story  in  one  composite  scene,  Daniel  among  the  lions 
(Habakkuk  offers  him  a  loaf  marked  with  the  cross),  the 
assault  upon  Moses,  the  water  from  the  rock.  It  will  be 
noticed  how  many  accessory  personages  appear  in  the  back- 
ground. 

In  Fig.  99  the  figures  are  more  freely  spaced  and  much 
better  disposed.  It  is  necessary  here  to  mention  onl}*  the 
subjects  which  have  not  appeared  in  the  preceding  illustra- 
tions. It  may  be  remarked  that  Moses  receiving  the  Law  and 
Abraham  sacrificing  his  son  are  often  represented,  as  here,  on 
either  side  of  the  busts  of  the  deceased.  This  enabled  the 
artist  to  utilize  the  small  angles  above  the  shell  for  the  hand 
of  God  which  intervenes  in  both  of  these  cases.  It  was  usually 
by  a  mere  hand  or  arm  stretched  from  a  cloud  that  the  pres- 


264  PICTORIAL  ART 

enee  of  God  was  represented,  and  the  artist  was  relieved  of  the 
necessity  of  depicting  the  deity  in  human  form.  This  symbol 
evidently  reflects  the  familiar  language  of  the  Psalms:  "the 
hand  of  God,"  "the  arm  of  the  Lord."  The  scene  below  the 
busts  has  lmi  been  adequately  explained.  Lt  seems  to  repre- 
senl  a  prophet  reading  a  roll,  which  a  dew  would  take  from 
him,  while  another  is  spying  upon  him  through  the  branches 
of  a  tree.  Next  to  this  on  the  right  is  the  paralytic  carrying 
his  bed.  In  the  upper  right-hand  corner  we  have  a  scene 
which  appears  first  in  the  art  of  the  sarcophagi ;  it  represents 
Christ  before  Pilate.  Christ  stands  in  the  background  accom- 
panied by  a  soldier.  In  front  stands  a  servant  pouring  water 
from  a  pitcher  —  the  basin  has  been  broken  off  the  small  table 
upon  which  it  stood.  Pilate  is  represented  washing  his  hands 
of  "the  blood  of  this  just  person."  Pilate  himself  is  seated 
with  an  assessor  upon  the  judgment  seat ;  he  has  an  air  of 


Fig.  101. — Details  from  the  sarcophagus  of  Junius  Bassus.    Christ,  in  the  form  of  a  lamb, 

multiplying  the  loaves, 

great  perplexity  and  indecision.  The  Gospels  make  no  men- 
tion of  the  presence  of  an  assessor ;  it  is  simply  taken  for 
granted  by  the  artists,  because  it  was  customary  in  Roman 
judicial  procedure. 

A  decided  improvement  upon  the  type  of  sarcophagus  we 
have  just  been  studying  is  effected  by  separating  the  different 
subjects  by  a  row  of  columns,  arcades,  or  niches.  This  is 
illustrated  by  the  celebrated  sarcophagus  of  Junius  Bassus 
(Fig.  100),  a  Prefect  of  Rome  who  died  in  the  year  350.  In 
point  of  execution  it  is  the  noblest  of  all  Christian  sarcophagi ; 
the  illustration  is  necessarily  imperfect  because  the  sarcopha- 
gus stands  in  the  crypt  of  the  Vatican  and  in  a  position  where 
it  is  difficult  to  photograph  it.  The  first  scene  is  one  writh 
■which  Tve  are  already  familiar  —  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac.  The 
next  represents  the  arrest  of  S.  Peter ;  it  is  clearly  identified 
by  the  traditional  type  of  the  Apostle.  At  the  lower  corner 
to  the  right  is  the  scene  which  corresponds  to  this,  S.  Paul  led 


>     /  l.rrrilE  —  Snrmpharji 


265 


to  his  execution.  The  high  reeds  which  appear  in  the  back- 
ground  of  this  scene  very  well  correspond  with  the  swampy 
character  of  the  region  about  the  Tre  Fontane  where  S.  Paul 

was  beheaded.  The  two  compartments  above  represent  Christ 
before  Pilate.  He  also,  like  Peter,  is  conducted  by  two  sol- 
diers, but  he  is  not  bound,  and  they  do  him  no  violence.  It  is 
evident  that  even  when  the  Church  began  to  represent  these 
scenes  connected  with  Christ's  Passion  there  was  still  a  great 
reluctance  about  depicting  him  in  any  humiliating  position. 
He  was  still  represented  in  the  gracious  aspect  of  a  young  and 
beardless  youth,  and  usually  with  long  curly  locks.  The  type 
was  evidently  derived  from  the  pictures  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 
Here,  as  always,  he  stands  freely  and  majestically  before  Pilate, 
who  himself  seems  to  feel  condemned  by  his  prisoner. 

On  another  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  of  about  the  same  date, 
this  and  other  scenes  of  Christ's  Passion  are  represented  in  the 


appears  among  the  Three  Children  in  the  furnace,  Christ  striking  water  from  the  rock, 
baptized  by  John  in  the  Jordan. 

same  spirit.  A  soldier  places  the  crown  of  thorns  upon  his 
head  as  though  he  were  crowning  an  emperor,  and  the  way  of 
the  cross  is  represented  by  a  scene  in  which  a  soldier  and  Simon 
the  Cyrenean  alone  appear.  This  stands  in  the  strongest  con- 
trast to  the  spirit  of  ^Mediaeval  art  and  of  the  Mediaeval  religion 
which  delighted  in  scenes  of  horror  and  strove  especially  to 
stir  the  feelings  by  depicting  vividly  every  detail  of  Christ's 
sufferings.  It  is  not  till  later  that  we  shall  have  occasion  tc 
mention  the  crucifixion,  but  on  this  sarcophagus  it  is  sym- 
bolized by  a  bare  cross,  upon  the  arms  of  which  are  perched 
two  cloves  supporting  a  great  wreath  or  crown  which  frames 
the  triumphant  monogram.  Below  the  cross  sleep  the  two  sol- 
diers who  guarded  the  tomb.  In  this  we  have  symbolized  at 
once  the  crucifixion,  the  burial,  the  resurrection,  and  the  ascen- 
sion. 

But  to  return  to  the  sarcophagus  of  Junius  Bassus ;  in  the 
middle  of  the  composition  we  have,  below,  Christ's  triumphal 


200  PICTORIAL  ART 

entry  into  Jerusalem;  one  man  is  casting  his  garment  in  the 
way.  and  another  is  breaking  off  the  bough  of  a  tree.  Above, 
Christ  sits  enthroned  above  the  Leavens,  giving  the  charge  of 
his  Church  to  the  two  Apostles.     Heaven  is  here  personified  as 

in  Classic  art,  by  an  old  man  holding  his  garment  above  his 
head.  It  only  remains  to  mention  the  scene  in  the  left-hand 
corner;  it  represents  Job  upon  the  ash  heap,  his  wife  is  offer- 
ing him  a  loaf  of  bread  on  the  end  of  a  stick,  while  she  holds 
her  garment  over  her  nose. 

The  niches  of  the  lower  zone  are  admirably  designed ;  every 
alternate  niche  is  finished  above  in  the  form  of  a  shell ;  this 
ornament  was  common  in  Classic  architecture  ;  but  here  the 
design  is  unusual,  for  it  passes  by  insensible  gradations  into 
the  wings  and  head  of  a  dove.  In  the  six  spandrels  between 
the  niches  an  unique  and  very  interesting  series  of  symbols  is 
introduced.  Four  of  the  subjects  are  illustrated  on  a  larger 
scale  in  Fig.  101.  They  represent  Christ  under  the  figure  of 
the  lamb:  in  the  first  he  is  joining  three  other  lambs  in  the 
fiery  furnace ;  in  the  second  he  is  striking  with  his  rod  the 
water  from  the  rock,  the  well  of  living  waters  with  which  he 
refreshes  his  disciples ;  in  the  third,  he  is  baptized  by  John  in 
the  Jordan;  two  other  niches  contain  the  raising  of  Lazarus 
and  the  receiving  of  the  Law. 

This  is  the  first  time  we  have  encountered  this  new  trait  of 
symbolism,  according  to  which  Christ  is  no  longer  the  shepherd 
but  the  sheep.  This  symbolism  belonged  first  and  foremost  to 
the  apsidal  mosaics  of  the  basilicas,  which  in  this,  as  in  most 
other  respects,  were  inspired  by  the  Apocalypse.  The  mystic 
lamb  —  the  agnus  dei  —  stands  upon  the  mount  out  of  which 
issue  the  four  streams  of  paradise,  which  are  the  four  Gospels. 
He  is  often  accompanied  by  twelve  lambs  representing  the 
Apostles,  issuing  from  the  towns  of  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem 
(Fig.  129).  This  symbol  gained  a  firm  hold  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, aud  it  no  doubt  had  an  influence  in  supplanting  the  Good 
Shepherd.  It  was  not  till  the  fifth  century  that  the  lamb  was 
represented  with  the  nimbus  and  the  cross. 

A  similar  sarcophagus  of  about  the  same  date  as  that  of 
Junius  Bassus  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  102.  By  the  reduction  of 
the  colonnade  to  a  single  story  and  by  the  diminution  of  the 
number  of  figures  it  gains  much,  both  in  beauty  and  in  clear- 


SCULPTURE  —  Sarcophagi 


207 


ness  of  meaning.  The  greater  number  of  subjects  on  the  sar- 
cophagus of  Junius  Bassus  embarrass  one's  judgment;  here 
where  there  are  but  three  themes  the  meaning  is  clear,  and  we 
see  that  Abraham's  sacrifice  of  his  son  typifies  the  Passion  of 
Christ,  and  for  this  reason  is  placed  opposite  the  judgment  of 
Pilate,  while  the  central  subject  depicts  Christ  after  his  resur- 
rection. With  this  clearly  established,  we  are  bound  to  read 
back  the  same  meaning  into  the  other  sarcophagus,  with  a  pre- 
sumption that  its  other  scenes,  too,  were  thoughtfully  chosen. 
And  in  fact,  it  is  sufficiently  clear  that  the  scenes  which  repre- 
sent the  martyrdom  of  S.  Peter  and  of  S.  Paul  have  their  place 
there  as  illustrations  of  suffering  in  likeness  to  that  of  Christ, 


Fig.  102. — Sarcophagus   in   the   Lateral)   Museum.     Fourth  century.     Sacrifice  of  Isaac, 
Christ,  enthroned,  giving  the  new  Law  to  his  Apostles,  Christ  before  Pilate. 


while  Daniel  typifies  both  martyrdom  and  deliverance.  Christ's 
triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem  on  the  way  to  his  Passion  is 
evidently  compared  with  his  glory  in  the  Jerusalem  Avhich  is 
above.  Job  is  often  represented  by  the  Fathers  as  a  type  of 
Christ  for  his  suffering  and  patience.  Adam  and  Eve  typify 
the  fall  which  required  redemption.  It  may  be  that  it  is  as 
the  just  man  Job  is  here  represented,  in  contrast  to  the  first 
parents  who  brought  sin  into  the  world. 

Very  common  are  the  sarcophagi  upon  which  Christ  is.  rep- 
resented enthroned  between  the  Apostles,  although,  as  it  has 
been  said,  this  theme  belongs  especially  to  the  art  of  the  basili- 
cas. Sometimes  all  twelve  of  the  Apostles  appear,  either  in  a 
close  row,  or  divided  by  niches.  Sometimes  from  under  the 
feet  of  Christ  there  gush  the  four  streams  of  paradise. 

It  remains  only  to  remark  the  peculiarities  of  the  fifth  cen- 


•ji;s 


PICToniM.   ART 


tury  sarcophagi  of  Ravenna  (Figs.   H»:;,  K»l).     They  are  dis- 
tinguished by  their  rounded  lids,  which  are  fivqucnth-  decorated 


uTirtH'iiniiiffiiiiriiiiii  i 

Fig.  103.  —  Sarcophagus  of  Theodore,  bishop  of  Ravenna.    Fifth  century. 

by  crosses  or  monograms.  It  may  also  be  observed  that  they 
are  more  frequently  decorated  at  the  ends  than  are  the  Roman 
sarcophagi.  The  aim  in  general  is  more  expressly  decorative, 
and  they  are  consequently  never  overcrowded  with  figures. 
The  principle  of  symmetry  comes  out  here  more  strongly  than 
ever,  both  in  the  strictly  ornamental  and  in  the  figured  de- 
signs. The  subjects  which  belong  to  the  early  cycle  of  the 
catacombs  never  appear ;  in  their  stead  are  either  historical 
subjects  or  the  symbolical  themes  of  the  basilicas.  Figure 
104  repeats  a  theme  which  is  common  for  the  apse,  or  for  the 
apsidal  arch.  It  represents  again  Christ  enthroned  between 
the  Apostles,  but  with  a  difference  which  belongs  to  the  fifth 
century.  S.  Peter  approaches  with  his  key  and  cross,  and  S. 
Paul  on  the  right  hand  receives  from  Christ  a  roll  which 
symbolizes  his  commission  as  Apostle,  or,  it  may  be,  his 
reception  of  the  new  Law.  It  is  well  known  that  in  the  fourth 
century,  if  not  earlier,  the  Gospel  came  to  be  regarded  as  the 
new  Law,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  scenes  which  repre- 
sent S.  Paul  receiving  a  roll  from  the  hand  of  Christ  were 
intended  to  express  a  parallel  to  the  reception  of  the  Law  of 
the  Old  Covenant  by  Moses.  On  this  sarcophagus,  besides  the 
chief  Apostles,  two  others  stand  acclaiming  Christ,  and  two 
martyrs  hasten  to  lay  their  crowns  at  his  feet.     The  crowns, 


SCULrrUBE  —  Sarcoplntiji. 


209 


the  roll  which  S.  Paul  holds,  the  cross  and  the  key  of  S.  Peter, 
are  carried  in  napkins.  It  was  customary  in  the  Church  to 
veil  one's  hands,  either  with  a  napkin  or  with  the  skirls  of  one's 


Fig.  104.  —  Sarcophagus  in  Ravenna.     Fifth  century.     Christ,  enthroned,  giving  the  Law  to 
Peter  and  Paul,  two  Apostles  hailing  him,  two  martyrs  offering  their  crowns. 

garment,  in  holding  any  sacred  object.  The  custom  was  de- 
rived from  pagan  usage ;  the  edicts  of  the  emperor,  for  example, 
were  thus  received. 


Note.  —  The  first  volume  of  Venturi's  important  work,  Storia  delV  Arte 
italiana,  was  unfortunately  issued  too  late  to  permit  the  incorporation  of  any 
of  its  valuable  suggestions  in  the  text  of  this  volume.  But  there  is  one 
monument  which  demands  some  mention,  and  deserves  far  more  attention 
than  can  be  given  it  in  this  note.  I  refer  to  the  two  front  columns  of  the 
ciborium  of  S.  Mark's,  in  Venice,  which,  since  Venturi's  convincing  vindica- 
tion of  their  antiquity,  must  be  accounted  among  the  most  important  monu- 
ments of  early  Christian  sculpture.  Each  column  is  covered  with  figures 
representing  stories  from  the  Gospels.  The  figures  are  disposed  in  nine  zones, 
between  which  runs  an  inscription.  In  each  zone  are  nine  figures,  separated 
by  colonettes  surmounted  by  archivolts,  after  the  manner  which  was  common 
on  the  sarcophagi.  It  is  mainly  on  accouut  of  the  character  of  the  inscription 
that  this  monument  has  been  ascribed  to  a  late  period  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  inscription,  however,  is  not  contemporary  with  the  carving;  it  is  proved 
to  be  an  addition  of  a  later  age  by  the  fact  that  it  does  not  always  designate 
correctly  the  events  depicted.  When  this  is  recognized,  the  monument  is  seen 
at  once  in  its  proper  relation  to  early  Christian  art.  Venturi  ascribes  it  to 
the  early  part  of  the  sixth  century.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  it  originated  in 
Istria.  It  was  evidently  the  work  of  a  skilful  cutter  of  sarcophagi.  It  may 
be  accounted  the  last  important  work  of  early  Christian  sculpture  in  stone. 
It  is  interesting,  moreover,  for  the  many  traits  it  derives  from  the  apocry- 
phal Gospels,  and  for  its  proof  of  the  influence  of  the  pseudo-Dionysius  upon 
pictorial  art,  though  we  have  here  only  the  first  steps  toward  a  discrimina- 
tion between  the  different  classes  of  angelic  beings. 


270 


PKTOIUAL    ART 


THE     IMMIIJS    OF    S.    SAHINA 


Of  early  sculpture  in  wood  it  is  perfectly  natural  that  only 
very  few,  ;i  in  I  for  the  mosl  part  only  unimportant  examples  have 
been  preserved.     But  there  is  one  exception, — the  cypress  wood 

doors  of  the  church 
of  S.  Sabina  upon 
the  Aventine  at 
Koine  (Figs.  105- 
108) ;  and  this  ex- 
ception constitutes 
one  of  the  most  val- 
uable monuments 
of  early  Christian 
art.  This  church, 
as  the  mosaic  in- 
scription informs 
us  (Fig.  123),  was 
built  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifth 
century  (under 
Celestine  I.)  by  a 
presbyter  of  Rome 
of  Illyrian  birth 
by  the  name  of 
Peter.  It  is  proba- 
ble that  the  carved 
panels  of  the  doors 
date  from  the 
foundation  of  the 
church.  The  bor- 
der is  later,  and  of 
a  different  wood. 
Only  a  part  of  each 
of  the  leaves  is 
shown  in  Figs. 
105,  106,  and  that 

Fig.  105.  —  Some  of  the  panels  on  the  left  side  of  the  wooden  .  «      ,  ,    , 

doors  of  S.  Sabina,  Rome.    Fifth  century.    The  Ascension.  ls>      UUIOrtUnately, ' 

a  symbolical  representation  of  the  Church,  the  denial  of  qjj       tOO       Small      a 
Peter.  Habakkuk  carried  bv  the  angel  to  Babylon,  crossing  , 

the  Red  Sea,  the  ascent  of  Elijah.  SCale    tO    give     any 


SCULPTURE  — Doors  of  S.  Sabina 


271 


adequate  idea  of  the  subjects  treated.  Originally  there  were 
twenty-eight  carved  panels,  twelve,  of  them  large  and  sixteen 
small.  Of  these  only  eight  of  the  large  and  ten  of  the  small 
ones  are  left,  while  the  other  spaces  are  blank.  The  pan- 
els which  remain 
have  suffered 
some  damage,- as 
well  as  some  un- 
fortunate restora- 
tions which  are 
difficult  to  detect 
on  account  of  the 
thick  varnish  with 
which  the  whole 
door  has  been  cov- 
ered. The  wonder 
is,  however,  that 
so  much  should 
be  preserved  and 
in  so  good  a  con- 
dition. Although 
it  is  the  main  door 
of  the  church,  it 
happens  to  be  pro- 
tected by  a  vesti- 
bule. Many  of 
the  carvings  are 
executed  with 
great  spirit  and 
show  remarkable 
invention.  Many 
of  the  themes  ap- 
pear here  for  the 
first  time,  and 
several  of  those 
which  are  old  ap- 
pear here  in  a 
new  form.  This 
monument  may 
have  had  an  influ- 


Fig.  106. — Some  of  the  panels  on  the  right  side  of  the 
wooden  doors  of  S.  Sabina.  Miracles  of  Christ,  miracles  of 
Moses  in  the  desert,  Christ  appearing-  to  Thomas,  to  the 
women  in  the  garden,  the  call  of  Moses,  a  symbolical  rep- 
resentation of  the  Empire. 


272  PICTORIAL   ART 

ence  upon  the  moulded  designs  of  the  bronze  doors  which 
became  the  fashion  iu  the  early  Middle  Ages;  but  so  far  as 
we  know  it  seems  to  stand  as  much  apart  from  succeeding  art 
as  from  all  which  went  before. 

The  originality  of  these  carvings  is  so  great  that  there  is 
serious  difficulty  in  interpreting  them,  and  inasmuch  as  there 
is  uncertainty  about  some,  we  may  content  ourselves  with  the 
consideration  of  a  few  of  the  most  interesting. 

Too  many  of  the  panels  have  been  lost  to  permit  us  to  judge 
securely  whether  they  did  originally,  as  is  commonly  supposed, 
constitute  one  of  those  parallels  between  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testament  (a  dittochaeon,  so-called)  of  which  we  have  literary 
record  (see  p.  16)  but  no  example  among  extant  monuments 
of  the  early  period.  The  panels  have  undoubtedly  been  trans- 
posed out  of  the  original  order,  but  between  some  of  them 
there  is  parallelism  striking  enough  to  assure  us  that  they 
must  once  have  been  placed  side  by  side,  and  in  other  cases 
the  missing  complement  is  clearly  suggested.  It  is  difficult, 
however,  to  believe  that  the  parallel  was  consistently  carried 
through ;  the  three  small  panels,  for  instance,  which  depict 
our  Lord's  appearances  after  his  resurrection  could  hardly  have 
been  matched  out  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  series,  as  we  now  have  it,  begins  with  the  history  of 
Moses.  On  one  large  panel  is  represented  his  call;  below,  he 
is  tending  the  flock  of  Jethro;  above,  he  is  taking  off  his 
shoes  in  the  presence  of  the  angel  who  speaks  to  him  out  of 
the  burning  bush ;  and  at  the  top  he  is  receiving  his  commis- 
sion from  God.  On  another  large  panel  is  represented  the 
departure  from  Egypt :  Moses  pleads  with  Pharaoh  and  changes 
his  rod  into  a  serpent;  the  Israelites  pass  through  the  Red 
Sea,  in  which  Pharaoh's  host  is  engulfed,  and  march  after 
the  pillar  of  fire.  The  miracles  of  Moses  are  represented  on  a 
large  panel  in  four  sections :  Moses  stands  above,  talking  with 
God ;  below,  are  two  scenes  representing  in  each  case  three 
persons  around  a  table,  commonly  interpreted  as  the  feeding 
with  manna  and  with  the  quails ;  at  the  bottom  Moses  strikes 
the  rock.  To  this  evidently  enough  corresponds  the  panel 
which  represents  three  of  the  miracles  of  Christ:  the  turn- 
ing of  water  into  wine,  the  multiplication  of  the  loaves,  and 
a  subject  which  is  interpreted  as  the  healing"  of  the   blind 


SCULPTURE  — Doora  of  S.  Sabina  273 

man.  The  ascension  of  Klijah  is  very  admirably  represented 
on  a  large  panel :  the  prophet,  mounting  in  the  chariot,  is  re- 
ceived by  an  angel ;  below,  Elisha  receives  his  mantle,  while 
two  "sons  of  the  prophets"  throw  themselves  upon  the 
ground  in  terror.  To  this  corresponds  the  ascension  of  Christ, 
who  is  received  into  the  clouds  by  three  angels,  while  the 
Apostles  are  left  gazing  up  in  amazement.  Of  other  Old 
Testament  scenes  we  have  only  a  single  small  panel  left ;  it 
represents  the  angel  transporting  to  Babylon  the  prophet 
Habakkuk  by  a  lock  of  his  hair1  —  a  subject  which  suggests 
the  loss  of  other  representations  connected  with  the  story  of 
Daniel,  probably  Susanna  and  the  Three  Children.  To  this 
last  subject  there  corresponds  the  familiar  parallel  of  the  Magi 
on  a  small  panel.  One  small  panel  is  supposed  to  represent 
the  Transfiguration. 

It  is  certain  that  other  scenes  relating  to  Christ's  life  have 
been  lost,  but  there  is  fortunately  preserved  to  us  the  end  of 
the  series,  from  the  judgment  before  Pilate  to  the  glorification 
of  Christ  in  heaven.  A  number  of  these  subjects  appear  here 
for  the  first  time,  and  have  therefore  a  very  extraordinary 
interest.  A  small  panel  represents  Pilate  washing  his  hands, 
while  Christ  departs  for  Calvary,  with  Simon  bearing  the  cross. 
Another  small  panel  represents  Christ  before  Caiaphas  —  a  sub- 
ject which  is  new  to  us.  The  denial  of  Peter  is  represented  by 
itself.  The  Crucifixion  is  represented  on  a  small  panel,  and  so 
far  as  we  know  this  is  the  first  time  it  appears  in  Christian  art. 
We  have  perhaps  to  suppose  that  a  representation  of  the  Resur- 
rection has  been  lost.  But  we  have  on  three  small  panels,  the 
appearance  of  the  angel  to  the  two  women  at  the  tomb,  Christ 
appearing  to  two  women  in  a  garden,  and  to  the  disciples  in 
the  upper  room  —  probably  to  Thomas.  Behind  the  head  of  the 
risen  Christ  is  a  nimbus  formed  by  the  monogram  between  the 
letters  A  and  fi.  This  perhaps  explains  the  origin  of  the  rayed 
nimbus. 

The  theme  which  is  altogether  the  most  striking  of  the 
whole  series  (a  conception  as  admirable  as  it  is  novel)  is 
represented  on  a  larger  scale  in  Fig.  107.  In  the  upper  part  of 
the  composition  stands  Christ  in  triumphal  attitude.  He 
stretches  forth  his  right  hand  with  a  gesture  which  expresses 
1  Daniel  xiv.  32-35. 

T 


•J  71 


PICTORIAL   ART 


at  oner  address  and  command  ;  in  his  left  he  holds  an  open 
scroll  upon  which  are  the  letters  of  the  word  TX®  TC.  He  has 
the  simple  nimbus,  and  on  each  side  df  him  are  inscribed  the 

letters  A  and  fi. 
The  figure  of  Christ 
is  framed  in  a  great 
wreath  which  is 
supported  by  the 
lour  symbols  of  the 
Evangelists.  The 
Saviour  is  here  rep- 
resented above  the 
sun,  the  moon,  the 
stars,  and  the  vault 
of  heaven ;  below 
stands  a  veiled 
woman  in  the  atti- 
tude of  prayer,  the 
personification  of 
the  Church  mili- 
tant, and  above  her 
head  the  two  Apos- 
tles hold  a  wreath 
in  which  is  framed 
the  cross.  The  of- 
fice of  the  Apostles 
is  to  hold  before 
the  eyes  of  the 
Church  Christ's 
cross,  as  the  exam- 
ple for  her  life  and 
as  the  only  way 
through  which  she 
can  receive  the 
crown.  But  we 
notice  here  a  strange  feature  :  the  staff  of  the  cross  is  elon- 
gated upward,  tapering  like  a  tongue  of  flame.  It  points 
straight  to  a  star,  but  it  points  on  beyond  this,  above  the' 
heavens,  to  the  divine  Ichthus,  Jesus  Christ  Son  of  God  and 
Saviour,  who  is  glorified  by  the  Evangelists,  the  Alpha  and 


Fig.  107. —  A  panel  from  the  doors  of  S.  Sabina.  The 
Apostles  directing-  the  gaze  of  the  Church  to  Christ  in  the 
heavens. 


SCULPTUBE  —  Doors  of  St.   Sabina  275 

Omega,  forever  elevated  above  the  heavens,  but  remaining  for- 
ever the  only  teacher,  the  only  Lord  of  his  Church,  which 
prayerfully  gazes  up  to  him  through  the  cross. 

There  remains  but  one  other  composition  to  consider ;  it  is 
the  large  panel  at  the  lower  right-hand  corner  of  the  right  leaf 
as  shown  in  Fig.  106.  This  has  been  taken  to  represent  the 
appearance  of  the  angel  to  Zacharias  in  the  temple;  but  one 
can  see  at  a  glance  how  poorly  it  corresponds  to  the  Biblical 
account  of  this  event;  and  as  this  is  a  subject  nowhere  else 
represented  in  early  Christian  art,  we  have  the  less  reason  to 
expect  it  here.  The  cross  plainly  indicates  a  Christian  build- 
ing, and  the  person  who  stands  in  front  of  this  palace,  basilica, 
or  church  (whichever  it  may  be)  is  not  a  priest,  nor  an  ecclesias- 
tic, for  he  wears  the  paludamentum,  which  was  the  dress  of  the 
emperor  or  of  imperial  officers.  The  preceding  panel  repre- 
sented the  Church  ;  it  seems  as  if  this  were  designed  as  a  par- 
allel to  it,  representing  the  Empire.  This  collocation  of  ideas 
was  very  familiar  in  that  age  (see  p.  241)  ;  the  Church  and 
the  Empire  were  regarded  as  the  two  inseparable  constituents 
of  Christendom.  The  introduction  of  an  angel  in  this  connec- 
tion is  certainly  a  very  striking  fact,  but  it  is  not  out  of  keep- 
ing with  the  ideas  of  that  age.  The  Christian  emperor  as 
the  protector  of  the  Church  was  under  the  special  tutelage  of 
heaven.  In  this  case  the  angel  is  not  represented  as  address- 
ing the  emperor,  but  as  furnishing  him  with  celestial  escort. 
The  figures  below,  divided  into  two  groups,  represent  the 
multitude  acclaiming  the  emperor.  The  higher  group  repre- 
sents the  nobles,  clad  in  the  toga  contabidata  ;  the  lower  repre- 
sents the  plebs,  clad  in  the  pcenula.  This  scene  has  great 
likeness  to  the  acclamatio  upon  the  arch  of  Constantine ;  the 
emperor,  the  nobles,  and  the  plebs  are  in  both  cases  clothed  in 
precisely  the  same  way.  The  theme  is  a  symbolical  one,  and 
we  need  not,  therefore,  think  of  any  particular  emperor,  but 
only  of  the  imperial  office  in  general. 

One  cannot  be  struck  with  the  novelty  of  the  themes  which 
we  encounter  upon  the  doors  of  S.  Sabina.  This  monument  is 
in  many  respects  unique,  but  it  stands  out  here  in  stronger  con- 
trast because  we  have  passed  at  one  step  from  the  art  of  the 
catacombs  and  of  the  sarcophagi  with  its  sepulchral  symbolism, 
to  the  art  of  the  basilicas  with  its  broader  ransre  of  interest,  its 


276  PICTORIAL    ART 

more  varied  choice  of  subjects,  ami  its  expressly  didactic  aim. 
We  see  that  Christian  symbolism  did  not  here  come  suddenly  to 
a  stop,  though  it  changed  its  form  ami  became  more  expressive. 
It  dealt  henceforth  less  in  hieroglyphic  emblems,  and  more  in 
the  lofty  spiritual  similitudes  which  were  inspired  by  the  Scrip- 
ture itself,  in  particular  with  the  symbols  of  the  church  and  of 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem  which  were  drawn  from  the  Apoca- 
lypse. Whether  it  was  symbolical  or  historical,  the  art  of  the 
basilicas  was  always  frankly  didactic.  It  was  the  historical 
interest,  however,  which  chiefly  contributed  to  enlarge  the 
range  of  Christian  art.  The  monuments  which  we  have  still 
to  study,  whether  in  sculpture,  or  in  mosaic,  or  in  miniature, 
introduced  many  more  themes  than  we  can  conveniently  deal 
with.  We  have  now  come  to  a  point  where  the  products  of 
Christian  art  can  no  longer  be  conveniently  grouped  under  a 
half-dozen  heads. 

THE    CRUCIFIXION" 

The  Crucifixion  scene  on  the  doors  of  S.  Sabina  (Fig.  108) 
demands  a  special  consideration,  in  order  that  we  may  insti- 
tute a  comparison  with  the  very  few  other  monuments  of  the 
same  sort  which  are  to  be  found  among  the  remains  of  early 
Christian  art.  This  theme  has  for  us  an  interest  altogether 
out  of  proportion  to  the  rarity  of  its  occurrence  in  early  art, 
for  in  the  art  of  the  Middle  Ages  it  became,  we  may  surely 
say,  the  principal  theme,  and  one  is  curious  to  see  what  expres- 
sion was  given  to  it  in  the  early  age. 

Most  important  of  all  is  the  fact  that  the  subject  was  never 
represented  before  the  fifth  century,  and  one  who  objects  to  it 
now  may  enjoy  the  confidence  that  he  is  in  harmony  with  the 
sentiment  and  tradition  of  four  centuries  and  more  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  earlier 
monuments  existed  of  which  we  no  longer  have  the  trace,  for 
the  earliest  reference  in  literature  to  a  picture  of  the  Crucifix- 
ion is  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  and  it  is  not  till 
the  very  end  of  that  century  there  is  mention  of  a  carved 
image  of  it  —  this  in  an  account  by  Gregory  of  Tours,  to  the 
effect  that  in  a  church  at  Narbonne  there  was  a  crucifix  which 
gave  offence  on  account  of  its  nakedness. 

Thousrh  the  Crucifixion  on  the  door  of  S.  Sabina  is  the  earli- 


SCULPTURE—  The  Crucifixion 


277 


est  we  know,  one  can  hardly  say  that  it  is  the  beginning  of  a 
line  of  development;  the  subject  was  so  rare  for  at  Least  a  cen- 
tury after,  that  no  tradition  was  established.  It  is  certainly 
treated  in  an  unique  way  in  this  monument.  The  background 
represents  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  and  denotes  that  the  Cruci- 
fixion was  without  the  city.  Christ  is  placed  between  the  two 
thieves,  who  are  represented  much  smaller  than  he.  They  are 
all  three   naked  but  for  the  scantiest  loin  cloth.     Curiously 


Fig.  108.  —  A  panel  fi-om  the  doors  of  S.  Sabina.     The  Crucifixion. 


enough,  there  is  no  cross,  though  the  hands  of  all  are  nailed 
to  small  blocks  of  wood.  The  feet  are  not  nailed.  There  must 
have  been  some  reason  for  merely  hinting  at  the  cross  in  this 
way,  but  it  is  puzzling  to  account  for  it. 

It  may  have  something  to  do  with  another  strange  feature 
which  we  have  to  observe,  namely,  the  position  of  the  arms ; 
they  all  three  stand  in  the  position  of  the  orans.  One  canuot 
readily  suppose  that  this  position  was  given  them  for  lack  of 
room,  nor  that  there  was  any  trait  of  realism  in  it.  It  is 
strange,  on  the  other  hand,  to  find  Christ  represented  as  an 


278  PICTORIAL   ART 

dans,  and  the  same  attitude  ascribed  to  both  thieves.  The 
posture  of  the  orans  suggested  especially  the  petition  of  the 
soul  for  God's  forgiveness  and  mercy.  Christ  is  not  commonly 
represented  in  this  attitude ;  a  rare  if  not  the  solitary  excep- 
tion is  constituted  by  one  of  the  representations  of  his  baptism 
in  the  catacomb  of  S.  Callistus.  It  is  expressly  mentioned 
that  Christ  prayed  when  he  was  baptized,  and  it  may  be  that 
here  his  prayer  from  the  cross  is  symbolized  in  this  attitude. 
There  is  very  little  further  we  need  remark  in  this  picture. 
The  figures  are  exceedingly  ill-drawn ;  Christ  has  long  hair 
and  a  beard,  and  his  eyes  are  open.  It  is  a  characteristic 
trait  of  the  early  pictures  of  the  Crucifixion  (up  to  the  twelfth 
century)  that  they  represent  Christ  alive.  The  artists  had  not 
left  so  far  behind  them  the  cheerful  traditions  of  earlier  art 
that  they  could  take  delight  in  the  harrowing  suggestions  of 
this  subject. 

A  fresco  of  the  Crucifixion  was  found  in  the  house  of  SS. 
Giovanni  e  Paolo,  and  it,  too,  is  supposed  to  belong  to  the  fifth 
century.  If  so,  it  is  our  earliest  painting  of  the  subject;  but 
unfortunately  it  was  in  a  seriously  damaged  state  when  first 
excavated,  and  it  has  now  almost  entirely  disappeared. 

The  next  representation  of  this  subject  is  on  an  ivory  box 
in  the  British  Museum  (Fig.  109).  This  box  can  hardly  be 
placed  later  than  the  fifth  century,  but  we  may  note  a  certain 
advance  upon  the  type  represented  by  the  doors  of  S.  Sabina, 
especially  in  the  introduction  of  some  of  the  features  which 
became  traditional  in  later  art.  Christ  is  young  and  beardless, 
he  has  the  nimbus,  and  the  superscription  REX  IUD  (ceorurn) 
appears  above  the  cross.  He  is  again  naked  but  for  the  loin 
cloth,  his  eyes  are  open,  and  his  feet  are  neither  nailed  nor 
bound.  His  arms,  however,  are  stretched  out  horizontally,  as 
in  all  the  Mediseval  representations.  This  position  strictly  de- 
mands a  support  for  the  feet,  the  suppedaneum,  which  appears 
in  later  representations  and  even  in  the  earliest  of  all,  the  cru- 
cifix of  the  Palatine  (p.  237).  In  the  crucifix  of  S.  Sabina, 
the  suppedaneum  may  be  indicated  by  the  border  of  the  panel. 
Such  a  support  is  however  lacking  here,  though  the  body  is 
raised  some  distance  above  the  ground.  The  two  thieves  do 
not  appear  in  this  representation,  but  beneath  the  cross  stand 
S.  John  and  the  Virgin.     Near  by,  Judas  hangs  from  a  tree, 


SCULPTURE      Ivorfes 


279 


with  his  big  bag  of  money  spilt  out  beneath  him  ;  on  the  other 

side  is  a. Jew,  who  still  reviles  Christ. 

The  three  other  subjects  which  are  represented  <>n  this  box 
are  also  interesting.  This  is  the  earliest  monument  on  which 
Christ  is  represented  carrying  his  cross;  he  goes  out  from 
the  presence  of  Pilate  and  passes  Peter,  who  has  just  denied 
him  and  sits  crouched  over  a  brazier.     The  two  soldiers  sleep- 


Fig.  109.  —  An  ivory  box  in  the  British  Museum.  Fourth  or  fifth  century.  Christ  leaves 
the  prsetorium  bearing:  his  cross,  the  denial  of  Peter,  the  Crucifixion,  Judas"  death,  the 
two  women  at  the  open  tomb,  Christ  convincing-  Thomas. 

ing  before  the  empty  tomb  is  the  subject  of  another  panel;  and  the 
last  represents  Thomas  thrusting  his  finger  into  Christ's  side. 
A  representation  of  the  Crucifixion  in  tapestiy  is  illustrated  in 
Fig.  178.  Christ  is  here  clothed  in  a  long  garment.  The  sun 
and  moon  appear  on  either  side.  The  work  belongs  to  the  sixth 
or  seventh  century. 

IVORY    CARVING 

It  is  quite  natural  that  more  examples  should  have  been  pre- 
served of  carving  upon  ivory  than  of  any  other  class  of  monu- 


.'SO 


PICTORIAL   ART 


•c  to 

=  a 

~  "2 

o  "° 

t-    a) 


"8  S 

^   a 


s s. 


c    » 


_  ft 


9  — 


SC  ULPT  URE  —  Ivories  281 

ments  except  sarcophagi.  It  is  equally  natural  that  we  should 
find  works  of  rare  delicacy  of  treatment  among  them.  Only  a 
few  examples  can  here  be  mentioned  or  illustrated,  and  it  is 
not  necessary  to  pause  to  discuss  the  technic  of  this  art.  It 
followed  the  decline  of  all  other  branches  of  early  art ;  but  it 
served  perhaps  more  than  any  other  except  Biblical  miniatures 
to  carry  down  the  traditions  of  Classic  art  to  the  Middle  Ages. 
There  is  no  century  which  is  not  represented  at  least  by  rude 
copies  of  early  models.  The  ivories  of  the  early  period  are 
most  of  them  to  be  ascribed  to  Rome,  Milan,  Ravenna,  or  Con- 
stantinople. This  affords  at  least  a  general  classification  and 
marks  certain  differences  in  style.  The  first  three  names  stand 
also  for  a  chronological  order ;  after  the  capture  of  Rome  in 
410  Milan  became  the  seat  of  government  and  the  centre  of  arts 
in  Italy,  to  be  superseded  in  the  West  only  by  Ravenna.  It 
will  be  instructive  to  describe  in  detail  two  of  the  most  impor- 
tant ivories  in  order  to  show  how  rapidly  the  range  of  subjects 
was  extended  after  the  Peace  of  the  Church. 

The  first  is  the  celebrated  box  preserved  at  Brescia  (Figs.  Ill, 
112).  This  box  is  in  fragments ;  the  five  decorated  sides  are 
now  laid  together  in  the  shape  of  a  cross.  The  work  is  attrib- 
uted to  the  fourth  century,  and  the  execution  is  far  more  per- 
fect than  one  might  expect  even  at  that  date.  No  other 
example  of  early  Christian  art  can  equal  it  in  point  of  artistic 
beauty  and  skill.  The  aim  of  the  artist  is  more  exclusively 
decorative  than  in  the  case  of  any  work  we  have  hitherto  con- 
sidered. He  has  chosen  what  themes  he  pleased  out  of  the 
early  cycle,  and  he  has  freely  invented  new  ones  to  match  the 
spaces  he  had  to  fill,  grouping  them  as  proved  most  convenient. 
We  must  suppose  that  for  the  historical  scenes  he  already 
found  some  patterns  in  Biblical  miniatures  or  in  mosaics. 

We  may  notice  in  the  first  place  that  around  the  rim  of  the 
box  were  disposed  medallions  of  Christ  and  fourteen  Apostles. 
The  head  of  Christ  is  just  above  the  lock  of  the  box ;  he  is 
represented  as  a  lad,  and  several  of  the  Apostles  are  not  much 
older.  The  narrow  friezes  at  the  bottom  and  top  of  each  panel 
contain  subjects  from  the  Old  Testament;  the  larger  fields  rep- 
resent chiefly  subjects  from  the  life  of  Christ.  At  the  top 
(Fig.  Ill)  is  Jesus  iu  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  the  betrayal 
of  Judas,  and  the  denial  of  Peter,  Christ  before  Annas  and 


x? 


m\jrrrww^ 


Fig.  111. — Top  and  two  sides  of  an  ivory  box  at  Brescia.  Fourth  century.  The  largt 
fields  contain  subjects  from  the  New  Testament ;  the  borders,  subjects  from  the  Old  : 
the  medallions  represent  Christ  and  the  Apostles. 


SCrLl'TUHl-:—  /rnrirs 


283 


Caiaphas,  and  before  Pilate.  The  large  field  below  represents 
Christ  wiih  two  disciples  beside  some  lake  or  river,  the  hand 
of  God  extended  from  heaven  in  witness  to  his  Son;  and  then 
the  history  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira.  Following  again  the  his- 
tory of  Christ,  we  have  the  healing  of  the  woman  with  the 
issue,  Christ  instructing  the  disciples  in  the  upper  room  (or 
preaching  in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth),  Christ  as  the  Good 
Shepherd,  defending  the  sheep  while  the  hireling  fleeth.  In 
Fig.  112  we  go  back  to  earlier  episodes:  the  raising  of  Peter's 


Fig.  112.  — The  two  ends  of  the  box  at  Brescia. 


wife's  mother,  the  healing  of  the  blind  man,  and  the  raising  of 
Lazarus. 

The  Old  Testament  story  begins  with  the  lower  frieze  at  the 
right  of  this  same  plate :  Jacob's  dream  (represented  by  an 
angel  climbing  a  ladder),  Jacob  wrestling  with  the  angel,  Jacob 
watering  the  flocks  of  Rachel.  In  the  frieze  above  we  have 
Moses  taking  off  his  shoes  ;  and  on  the  other  side  his  reception  of 
the  Law ;  in  the  middle  there  are  represented  the  Three  Chil- 
dren in  the  furnace  —  in  the  background  are  four  more  figures, 
representing  the  moment  when  the  angel  joined  them.  The 
story  of  Moses  is  continued  below  at  the  left  with  the  worship 
of  the  Golden  Calf,  and  a  banquet  in  which  five  persons  are 
seated  at  a  table  on  which  are  loaves  and  a  fish — -.probably 
the  manna  as  a  symbol  of  the  Eucharist.    Above  is  David  slay- 


L'S-1 


pictorial  Air/' 


ing  Goliath,  the  prophet  who  was  slain  by  the  lion  (represented 
as  a  mummy  i,  and  the  hand  of  Jeroboam  dried  up  as  lie  put  it 
forth  from  the  altar.  The  uppermost  frieze  in  Fig.  Ill  repre- 
sents an  orans,  donah  under  the  gourd,  and  Daniel  feeding 
the  dragon.     The  next  below  returns  to  the  story  of  Moses: 


Fig.  113.  —  Ivory  diptych  in  Florence.  Fifth  century.  S.  Paul  instructing  his  disciples, 
S.  Paul  at  Malta,  shaking  the  viper  from  his  hand,  Publius  and  his  father,  the  sick  brought 
to  S.  Paul  for  healing,  Adam  in  Eden. 


Moses  found  among  the  bulrushes,  the  slaying  of  the  Egyptian, 
another  banquet  of  five  persons  —  probably  the  Passover.  On 
the  border  to  the  right  is  Judas  hung  upon  a  tree  :  on  the  other 
side,  a  tower,  the  symbol  of  the  Church  or  the  New  Jerusalem, 
according  to  one  of  the  visions  of  Hermas.  Below,  Jonah  and 
the  monster ;  on  the  border,  the  fish  and  the  cock ;  and  at  the 


SC  ULPT  URE  —  Ivories  285 

bottom,  Susanna  surprised  at  her  bath,  the  judgment  of  Daniel, 
and  Daniel  among  the  lions.  On  this  small  box  there  are  in 
all  forty-one  subjects  besides  the  fifteen  medallions;  a  con- 
siderable number  of  them  appear  here  for  the  first  time. 

It  must  suffice  to  give  one  example  of  the  fifth  century  ivo- 
ries,—  a  diptych  at  Florence  (Fig.  113)  which  belongs  perhaps 
to  the  school  of  Milan.  One  side  represents  S.  Paul  as  teacher, 
seated  upon  a  chair  among  his  disciples.  Below  is  the  scene 
at  Malta  where  he  casts  off  the  serpent  from  his  hand  into  the 
fire.  Publius  is  dressed  like  a  Roman  official,  but  his  father- 
appears  in  the  garb  of  the  "  barbarians  "  of  the  place.  At  the 
bottom,  the  father  of  Publius  whom  Paul  had  healed  of  a 
fever  directs  other  sick  folk  to  him.  This  work  is  well  exe- 
cuted for  its  time,  but  we  can  distinctly  enough  note  the 
decadence  which  marks  the  half  century  or  so  which  inter- 
vened between  this  and  the  box  of  Brescia.  The  other  side  of 
the  diptych,  however,  is  thoroughly  Classic  in  its  traits,  and 
this  is  doubtless  to  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  artist 
had  some  Classic  model  for  this  theme. 

The  revival  of  art  at  Ravenna  furnishes  us  with  a  number 
of  ivories.  The  most  noteworthy  is  the  ivory  cathedra  of 
Maximianus  (Fig.  114,),  bishop  of  Ravenna,  before  the  middle  of 
the  sixth  century.  Its  most  admirable  feature  is  the  vine  pat- 
tern which  adorns  the  front  and  is  employed  with  somewhat 
less  delicacy  for  all  the  borders.  The  vine  springs  from  a  vase 
guarded  by  two  lions  and  is  continued  on  the  upper  frieze ; 
it  is  gracefully  enlivened  by  all  sorts  of  birds  and  beasts.  In 
the  midst  of  it  is  the  monogram  of  MAXIMLANOS  EP 
(iscopos) — a  form  of  puzzle  which  was  especially  popular  in 
that  age.  The  five  figures  in  front  represent  the  Baptist  and 
the  four  Evangelists.  In  the  conventionality  of  the  drapery, 
and  in  a  certain  exaggeration  of  the  attitudes,  we  have  a  sug- 
gestion of  the  traits  which  were  to  become  so  prominent  in 
later  Byzantine  art.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  front  of  the 
chair  was  executed  by  Byzantine  artists.  Another  hand 
appears,  however,  in  the  historical  subjects  which  adorn  it. 
The  back  contained  twenty-four  scenes  from  the  life  of  the 
Virgin  and  of  Christ ;  some  of  them  have  been  lost,  and  still 
others  are  scattered  in  various  public  and  private  collections. 
No  scenes  of  the  Passion  were  represented ;  the  scenes  from 


286 


PICTORIAL    MIT 


Fig.  114.  —  Ivorj-  cathedra  of  Maximianus,  bishop  of  Ravenna.     About  550  a. d.     John  the 
Baptist  and  the  four  Evangelists. 


SCULPTURE  —  Ivories 


287 


the  life  of  the  Virgin  show  the  influence  of  the  apocrypha]  Gos- 
pels on  early  art,  and  present  for  the  first  time  some  of  the 
subjects  which  were  to  become  popular  in  the  Middle  Ages. 


Fig.  115. — The  story  of  Joseph;   example   of  carving  on  the   back   of  the  cathedra  of 

Maximianus. 


On  the  sides  the  story  of  Joseph  is  related  in  ten  scenes.  Two 
of  them  are  illustrated  in  Fig.  115  :  in  the  lower  scene  Joseph 
is  let  down  into  the  well  while  his  brothers  stain  his  coat  with 
blood ;  above,  Jacob  tears  his  hair  at  the  sight  of  Joseph's 


L'SS 


PICTORIAL    ART 


bloody  coat.  These  figures  show  great  rudeness  of  execution, 
but  at  the  same  time  a  certain  barbarous  vigor  which  looks 
more  like  the  forceful  beginnings  of  a  new  art  than  the  de- 


Fig.  11(5.  —  Ivory  Gospel  cover  from  Murano,  now  at  Ravenna.  Sixth  or  seventh  century. 
Christ  enthroned  amidst  the  Apostles,  the  Three  Children  in  the  furnace,  the  story  of 
Jonah,  the  healing  of  the  blind,  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  healing  of  a  demoniac,  healing  of 
the  paralytic. 


cadence  of  an  old.  They  suggest  the  reflection  that  many 
hopeful  revivals  of  art  must  have  been  rendered  abortive  by 
the  frequent  supervention  of  political  calamities. 

A  Gospel  cover  from  Murano  (Fig.  116),  now  at  Ravenna, 


SCULPTURE  —  Stat  uary 


289 


illustrates  the  irretrievable  decadence  of  the  seventh  century, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  perpetuation  of  the  old  themes.  One 
will  recognize  at  once  the  healing  of  the  blind  man,  of  the 
demoniac,  of  the  paralytic,  and  the  raising  of  Lazarus.  Christ's 
rod  has  assumed  the  form  of  the  cross ;  it  is  the  sceptre  of 
the  early  European  kings.  In  the  centre  Christ  is  enthroned 
between  the  Apostles.  Below  are  the  Three  Children  in  the 
furnace;  an  angel  enters  and  stills  the  flames  with  the  cross. 
At  the  bottom  we  have  the  story  of  Jonah. 

Note.  —  There  is  plausible  proof  that  the  so-called  cathedra  of  Maximianus 
at  Ravenna  is  the  same  which  is  mentioned  in  the  chronicle  of  John  the 
Deacon  as  a  gift  from  the  Doge  Pietro  Orseolo  to  the  Emperor  Otto  III.  during 
his  residence  in  that  city.  If  such  is  the  case,  both  the  date  and  the  origin  of 
the  chair  are  undetermined  by  historical  evidence.  On  account  of  the  excel- 
lence of  its  workmanship,  Venturi  prefers  to  ascribe  it  to  the  early  part  of  the 
fifth  century,  aud  he 
suggests  that  it  may 
have  been  made  for  a 
Maximianus  who  was 
Bishop  of  Constantino- 
ple at  that  time.  He 
argues,  moreover,  from 
the  image  of  S.  John  the 
Baptist,  which  adorns 
the  front  of  it,  that  it 
may  have  been  designed 
originally  for  a  baptis- 
tery. 

STATUARY 

From  the  great 
rarity  of  the  monu- 
ments of  early 
Christian  statuary 
which  have  been 
preserved  to  us,  we 
may  judge  that 
throughout  this  pe- 
riod and  in  all  parts 
of  the  Church  the 
prejudice  against 
images  was  chiefly 
directed  against  this  branch  of  art.  It  was  a  tradition  inher- 
ited from  the  Jews,  it  was  strongly  enforced  by  the  Old  Testa- 


Fig.  117.  — Statue  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  in  the  Lateran 
Museum.      Probably  third  century. 


200 


riCTOHIM.    ART 


merit,  and  il  doubtless  corresponded  with  a  real  danger  of  idol- 
atrous misconception  on  the  part  of  Gentile  converts.  We  have 
several  times  had  occasion  to  notice  the  statues  of  precious 
metal  which  Uonstantine  and  others  erected  in  the  basilicas. 
Owing  to  the  value  of  their  material  none  of  these  have  been 

preserved  to  us.  It  is 
probable  that  before 
( 'mist  ant  ine  there  were 
no  religious  statues  ex- 
cept those  of  the  Good 
Shepherd. 

Figure  117  illustrates 
a  statue  of  the  Good 
Shepherd  belonging  to 
the  third  century,  found 
in  the  catacomb  of  Cal- 
listus ;  it  is  altogether 
the  most  gracious  repre- 
sentation of  this  symbol 
which  exists,  though  a 
number  have  been  found 
at  Rome  and  even  in  the 
Orient. 

In    the    Metropolitan 

Museum   in   New  York 

there  is  a  representation 

of  the   story  of  Jonah, 

executed   in    marble    on 

an  unusually  large  scale, 

partly     in     relief     and 

partly  in  the  round  —  a 

style  of  treatment  which 

is    without    parallel    in 

early  Christian  art.     This  monument  was  found  near  the  site 

of   ancient    Tarsus,    and   it   belongs    to   the   third   or   fourth 

century. 

There  could  at  no  time  have  been  any  objection,  on  religious 
grounds,  to  portrait  statues.  The  statue  of  Hippolytus  (Fig. 
118)  was  undoubtedly  executed  during  the  very  first  years  of 
the  third  century,  that  is,  immediately  after  his  death.     On  one 


Fig.  IIS.  —  Statue  of  S.  Hippolytus,  in  the  Lateran 
Museum.     First  years  of  the  third  century. 


SCULPTURE  —  Statuary 


291 


side  of  his  cathedra  is  engraved  his  computation  of  the  Easter 
cycle,  which  soon  after,  his  death  was  discovered  to  be  errone- 
ous, and  after  that  would  hardly  have  been  commemorated 
with  such  honor.  On  the  other  side  is  engraved  a  list  of  his 
works.  The  head  and  shoulders  are  restored,  the  remainder  is 
antique,  and  it  com- 
pares well  with  the  best 
monuments  of  Roman 
art. 

Of  greater  interest 
is  the  famous  bronze 
statue  of  S.  Peter  (Fig. 
119)  which  is  now  wor- 
shipped in  the  Vatican. 
The  chair,  and,  of 
course,  the  nimbus,  are 
modern ;  the  rest  is 
antique.  Peter,  like 
Hippolytus,  wears  the 
pallium ;  it  is  not  so 
gracefully  disposed, 
but  it  nevertheless  in- 
dicates an  age  when 
this  garment  was  still 
understood.  The  atti- 
tude is  stiff  but  noble, 
and  it  appears  as 
though  the  artist  in- 
tended to  give  an  im- 
pression of  hieratic 
dignity.  The  severity 
is  evidently  inten- 
tional ;     it    is    marked 

especially  by  the  rigidity  of  the  neck,  by  the  deep  lines  of  the 
face,  and  by  the  stiffness  of  the  right  arm. 

The  earliest  record  that  we  have  of  this  work  is  in  the  last 
quarter  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  this  fact  has  left  room  for 
the  most  divergent  hypotheses  concerning  its  origin.  One 
tradition  represents  that  it  was  the  statue  of  Jupiter  Capito- 
linus,  and  that  by  the  addition  of  the  keys  and  the  substitution 


Fig.  119. 


•Bronze  statue  of  S.  Peter,  in  the  Vatican. 
Probably  sisth  century. 


292  PICTOniAL    A  II T 

of  the  head  it  was  changed  into  an  image  of  S.  Peter,  by  Leo 
the  Great,  about  tin •  middle  of  the  fifth  century.  This  view  is 
no  longer  held;  on  grounds  of  style  it  is  impossible;  that  it 
was  originally  a  Christian  work  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  both 
the  keys  and  the  head  are  integral  parts  of  the  statue.  Many 
have  lately  accepted  the  view  that  it  is  a  work  of  the  early 
Renascence  (thirteenth  century),  perhaps  by  Arnolfo  di  Cambio. 
The  vigor  of  the  statue  is  supposed  to  indicate  the  rude  virility 
of  a  new  art  rather  than  the  decadence  of  an  old.  But  no  statue 
of  the  Renascence  can  be  compared  with  this  for  genuine 
understanding  of  the  Classic  dress,  and  the  work  is  rather  to 
be  attributed  to  the  end  of  the  fifth,  or  the  beginning  of  the 
sixth,  century.  It  exhibits,  it  must  be  confessed,  a  skill  which 
we  should  not  expect  in  any  artist  of  that  time. 

A  marble  statue  of  S.  Peter  in  the  crypt  of  the  Vatican  is 
almost  equally  a  subject  of  dispute.  The  attitude  is  closely 
similar,  but  it  is  not  a  copy  of  the  above.  Here,  again,  opin- 
ions differ  as  to  whether  it  is  an  original  Christian  work,  or  an 
adaptation  of  a  consular  statue. 

c.     MOSAICS 

In  taking  up  the  subject  of  Christian  mosaics  we  have  to  do 
almost  exclusively  with  the  decoration  of  the  basilicas. 

This  is  not  to  say  that  the  Christians  made  no  use  of  mo- 
saics elsewhere.  Figure  124,  for  instance,  illustrates  a  portrait 
mosaic  of  the  first  half  of  the  fourth  century,  found  in  the  cat- 
acomb of  Cyriaca,  and  now  in  the  Chigi  library.  Earlier  mosa- 
ics, employed  for  simple  decorative  patterns,  are  also  found  in 
the  catacombs ;  in  Africa  it  was  customary,  in  the  fourth 
century,  to  adorn  the  covers  of  sarcophagi  with  mosaic;  and 
this  art  was  of  course  made  use  of  for  the  floors  and  walls  of 
the  Christian  houses,  as  it  was  for  the  pagan.  In  the  case  of 
floor  mosaics,  however,  Ave  have  seldom  to  think  of  any  ex- 
pressly Christian  designs  ;  and  the  rare  instances  of  cemeterial 
mosaics  are  for  the  most  part  a  mere  reflection  of  the  decora- 
tion of  the  churches. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  basilicas 
were  never  decorated  in  fresco  instead  of  mosaic.  It  is  aston- 
ishing that  in  an  age  of  material  decline  the  Church  should 


.VOX.  I WS  —  Introductory  293 

have  adopted  the  mosl  costly  moans  of  decoration  that  has  ever 
been  employed,  and  that  so  great  a  number  of  churches  received 
mosaic  decoration.     We  may  say  that  mosaic  painting  was  the 

rule,  and  that  the  rule  required  every  bit  of  wall  to  be  covered 
by  mosaic  incrustation  of  one  sort  or  another.  It  is  evident, 
too,  that  the  great  symbolical  themes  which  adorned  the  apse 
could  not  have  been  developed  except  as  the  expression  of  this 
art.  It  is  certain  that  without  it  we  should  have  been  left  in 
ignorance  of  the  character  of  church  decoration  in  the  early 
period.  But  we  are  compelled  to  suppose  that  poorer  churches, 
and  those  which  lay  at  a  distance  from  the  great  centres  of 
culture,  had  to  content  themselves  with  an  execution  in  fresco 
in  imitation  of  the  mosaics  of  the  metropolitan  basilicas. 

The  mosaic  art  is,  roughly  speaking,  contemporaiy  with  the 
Christian  period.  It  need  not  be  said,  however,  that  the  first 
stage  of  its  development  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
Christianity  and  wras  exclusively  under  Classical  influence. 
It  was  as  a  covering  for  the  floor  that  mosaics  were  first  in- 
troduced and  most  commonly  used.  They  were  constructed  of 
small  cubes  of  marble  of  various  colors,  though  very  commonly 
limited  to  Avhite  and  black.  Geometrical  designs  predominated, 
representations  of  birds  and  beasts  and  intricate  floral  devices 
were  common,  and  one  need  not  be  reminded  of  the  elaborate 
pictorial  compositions  which  were  executed  with  the  most 
consummate  skill.  Mosaics  were  more  rarely  employed  for  wall 
and  ceiling,  and  it  was  generally  the  simpler  designs  in  black 
and  white  which  were  used.  For  the  lower  walls  particularly 
the  Romans  under  the  Empire  employed  incrustations  of 
marble  cut  in  blocks  of  various  sizes  and  shapes  and  arranged 
in  purely  conventional  patterns.  It  is  not  important  for  our 
purpose  to  distinguish  the  different  kinds  of  stone  mosaic  in 
use  among  the  Romans.  The  great  variety  and  the  sheer 
amount  of  costly  foreign  marble  which  was  brought  to  Rome 
during  the  first  three  centuries  almost  exceeds  belief.  It 
formed  a  mine  which  has  not  yet  been  exhausted. 

About  the  end  of  the  third  century  glass  mosaic  came  into 
use.  The  cubes  for  this  work  were  readily  obtained,  and  in 
just  the  color  and  dimension  required,  by  drawing  a  mass  of 
colored  glass  paste  into  long  pencils  which  were  then  chopped 
into  small  sections.     By  this  means  it  was  possible  also  to 


294 


PICTORIAL   ART 


attain  the  rich  effects  in  gold  which  arc  so  prominent  a  feature 
of  most  of  the  Christian  mosaics.     To  achieve  this  the  cubes 

had  simply  to  be  covered  with  gold  leaf  protected  by  a  film    of 

glass. 

This  glass  mosaic  was  occasionally  used  by  the  Romans  for 
the  decoration  of  niches  and  small  wall  surfaces;  but  it  did 


Fig.  120.  —  Apsidal  pavement  in  Ancona.     Fourth  or  fifth  century. 


not  tend  to  supersede  the  frescos  and  stucco  reliefs  which  were 
the  traditional  decoration  of  Roman  walls  and  ceilings.  It 
was  first  in  the  Constantinian  age  and  in  the  decoration  of  the 
Christian  basilicas  that  it  supplanted  painting  and  received  the 
high  development  of  which  it  was  capable.  Figured  mosaics 
in  stone  were  employed  occasionally  for  wall  decoration  even 
in  the  fourth  century,  but  mosaic  in  glass  was  then  the  char- 
acteristic type,  and  it  very  soon  became  the  exclusive  one. 
This  may  very  well  be  called  a  Christian  art,  for,  though  its 


MOSAICS  —  Introductory 


295 


beginnings  lay  outside  of  Christian  influence,  it  attained  in  the 
Church  a  development  which  is  altogether  without  comparison 
in  pagan  times.  In  this  it  was  the  only  great  technical  art 
which  received  any  new  impetus  and  development  from  the 
Church;  and  it  constitutes  altogether  the  noblest,  as  it  was 
also  the  most  monumental,  expression  of  Christian  art.  it  is 
the  art  which  shows  most  fully  the  impress  of  the  Christian 
spirit.  Notwithstanding  the  retention  of  innumerable  decora- 
tive elements  which  were  traditional  in  the  Classical  mosaics, 
the  art  of  the  basilicas  dealt  substantially  in  new  themes  and 
attained  a  nobility  and  grandeur 
of  expression  which  is  altogether 
without  parallel  in  the  art  of 
Greece  or  Rome. 

The  floor  mosaics  are  a  subject 
of  minor  interest.  They  followed 
very  closely  their  Roman  proto- 
types, with  the  incidental  intro- 
duction of  Christian  emblems, — 
as  the  vine  in  an  apsidal  pave- 
ment at  Ancona  (Fig.  120),  and 
the  fish  in  the  purely  conven- 
tional design  of  the  pavement  at 
Parenzo  (Fig.  121).  Inscriptions 
in  the  pavement  were  not  uncom- 
mon, and  sometimes  the  names 
of  those  who  had  contributed  to 
the  expenses  of  the  work  were 
commemorated  in  it.  In  another 
place  we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  a  curious  mosaic  floor 
in  a  sixth  century  church  at  Madaba  in  Palestine,  which  repre- 
sents a  map  of  the  Holy  Land,  with  the  cities  of  Bethlehem 
and  Jerusalem  (Fig.  128)  on  a  larger  scale.  Very  few  early 
pavements  are  preserved;  in  Italy  especially  they  were  some- 
what contemptuously  destroyed  to  make  way  for  the  Cosmati 
work  which  was  popular  in  the  twelfth  century. 

The  marble  incrustation  of  the  walls  followed  closely  the 
Classical  models.  The  general  character  may  readily  be  under- 
stood from  a  single  example  which  is  very  perfectly  preserved 
in  the  church  of  S.  Sabina  at  Pome  (Fig.  122).     In  this  case 


Fig.  121.  —  Section  of  mosaic  pave- 
ment in  the  cathedral  of  Parenzo. 
Sixth  centurv. 


296 


PK'TOllIAL    ART 


I  he  work  adorns  the  wall  spare  just  above  the  colonnade.  K, 
was  more  commonly  employed  for  the  lower  walls  of  the  aisles 
and  of  the  apse. 

We  may  mention  in  this  connection  mosaic  inscriptions,  since 
they  do  not  belong  to  pictorial  art.     Figure  VSo  illustrates  the 


dedicatory  inscription  —  a  metrical  titulus  —  of  S.  Sabina.  It 
is  especially  interesting  on  account  of  the  two  female  figures, 
under  which  one  reads,  ECLESIA  EX  CIPCVMCISIONE, 
and  ECLESIA  EX  GENTIBUS.     Over  these  personifications 


asssfflftn^twitK-'.^rrintraattT;::^^ 


AFOSTOI/C'/MCVMCAELESTINVSHABEivEi 

rC  ADEGE  NTS  P  E  T RVS  VI R  N  OMFNETANTQlh 
JIGN VSABEX O RT ^CRHISTI NVTRJ TVS  I N XV L A 
PAVPER[BVSLOC/PLE5SIBIPA:/PERQVIBON'AVnA- 
'RAISENTTSFVC  ;  ENSMERVITSPERAREFVTVI 


Fig.  123.  —  Dsdicatory  titulus  in  mosaic,  S.  Sabina.     Fifth  century. 


of  the  Church  from  the  circumcision  and  the  Church  from 
among  the  gentiles,  the  figures  of  the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul 
were  originally  represented,  and  above  these  were  the  symbols 
of  the  Evangelists.  This  inscription  is  on  the  wall  opposite 
the   apse.     More   common  are  inscriptions  under  the  apsidal 


MOSAIC'S —  Consttantinian  Period 


2U1 


mosaic,  or  upon  the  arch.  The  historical  compositions  of  the 
nave  were  often  accompanied  by  an  explanatory  inscription,  or 
"  title,"  in  mosaic. 


THE    CONSTANTINIAN    MOSAICS 


The  mosaics  with  which  Constantine  ornamented  the  tem- 
ples of  his  new  faith  represent  a  period  of  transition  ;  they 


iiaiiji¥iiiiiii»iiiii> 

HMHHHaaaUMMMj 


Fig.  124.  —  Portrait  mosaic  fron 


century. 


contain  numerous  elements  drawn  from  Classic  art  and  from 
the  early  Christian  cycle,  but  they  appear  at  the  same  time  to 
have  struck  out  very  definitely  upon  the  lines  which  charac- 
terized all  subsequent  developments  of  apsidal  decoration.  The 
transitional  style  is  best  represented  by  S.  Costanza;  but  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  as  an  explanation  of  the  character  of 
the  subjects,  that  this  was  a  mausoleum  and  not  a  church. 


o<IS 


/'/'    lOll/AL    All  7' 


We  have  already  had  occasion  fco  compare  the  mosaics  of  the 
ring-vault  (Fig.  L25)  with  the  earliest  decoration  of  the  cata- 
combs.     They  were  divided  into  eleven  c partments,  with 

only  six  substantially  different  designs,  all  of  them  of  a  purely 
decorative  character. 

The  rest  of  the  decoration  has  almost  eonipletely  disap- 
peared; we  know  it  only  from  drawings  by  d'Ollanda,  and  by 
the  detailed  description  which  Ugonio  gave  of  it  after  a  visit 
to  the  mausoleum  in  the  year  1594.  The  walls,  including  the 
drum  of  the  dome,  were 
superbly  adorned 
precious  marbles.  Fij 
126  shows  a  drawinj 
part  of  the  mosaic  of 
dome,  which  must 
been  one  of  the 
graceful  compositions 
which  we  have  any  r 
ord.  The  river  wh 
was  continued  around 
the  base  of  the  de- 
sign was  enlivened 
by  all  sorts  of 
aquatic  birds,  and 
by  cupicls  sailing 
about  on  rafts  and 
boats,  a  theme  which 
was  very  common 
in  pagan  villas  and 
baths,  and  which 
was  continued  in  Christian  mosaics  down  to  the  Renascence. 
The  lower  zone  of  the  mosaic  was  divided  into  twelve  com- 
partments by  as  many  caryatids,  which,  by  a  graceful  transi- 
tion, terminated  in  a  cluster  of  acanthus  stems,  supporting  in 
turn  smaller  caryatids,  which  framed  more  compartments,  and 
finally  interlaced  at  the  center  of  the  dome.  The  subjects 
which  were  depicted  in  these  compartments  were  partly  oblit- 
erated even  in  Ugonio's  time,  but  he  has  described  nine  of  the 
larger  ones,  of  which  the  first  four  are  included  in  our  draw- 
ing.     They  were :    Tobias  and  his   fish,  the  elders   accusing 


Fig.  125.  —  Mosaic  decoration  of  two  sections  of  the  ring- 


MOS.  1 1<  'S —  Constat/ 1 / m, i, i    l'i  ri<><l 


■>•>:> 


^^^^^s^sosssv^^ 


Susanna,  the  judgment  of  Daniel,  the  sacrifice  of  Cain  and 
AU'l,  Moses  striking  the  rock,  Elijah  and  the  priests  of  Baal, 
and  i  he  sacrifice  of  Abraham. 

So  far,  all  of  this  decoration  mighl  equally  well  have  ap- 
peared in  the  earlier  art  of  the  catacombs.  But  it  seems  that 
in  the  fifteen  niches  by  which  the  wall  was  broken,  and  in  a 
small  spherical  vault  which  interrupted  the  ring-vault  just  op- 
posite the  entrance,  there  was  employed  a  type  of  decoration 
which  was  more  distinctive  of  the  age  of  Constant ine.     The 

decoration  of  thirteen  of 
the  niches  seems  to  have 
been     very     simple,    to 
e     by     the     traces 
•h  are  found  in  one 
them  of  stars  upon  a 
lite    ground   surround- 
ing the  Constantinian 
monogram.       But  the 
two   large    lateral 
niches     still     possess 
mosaics  which  pre- 
sent some  of  the 
principal  features 
of     the      apsidal 
decoration  of  the 
basilicas.       It    is 
certain  that  the}r 
have    been    atro- 

'ault  of  the  Mausoleum  of  S.  Costanza,  Eome.     Fourth  century.  ClOUSly   disfigured 

by  successive  res- 
torations, so  that  one  can  base  no  judgment  upon  their  style, 
nor  be  altogether  confident  in  attributing  them  to  Constantine. 
But  it  seems  unlikely  that  such  decoration  could  have  been 
added  to  the  mausoleum  after  his  time.  One  of  these  mosaics 
represents  God  the  Father,  with  the  simple  nimbus,  seated  upon 
the  globe  of  the  world  in  the  midst  of  ten  palms,  which  repre- 
sent heaven,  giving  the  law  to  Moses.  It  appears  that  God  the 
Bather  was  more  frequently  represented  in  the  Constantinian 
age  than  afterward ;  and  this  observation  agrees  very  well  with 
the  barely  disguised  paganism  of  that  emperor's  religion.     The 


:;ihi 


PK-TOUIAL    AJIT 


corresponding  mosaic  represents  Christ  standing  upon  the  mys- 
tic mountain,  from  which  flow  the  four  streams  of  paradise; 
two  sheep  approach  him  on  each  side  from  the  towns  of  Jeru- 
salem and  Bethlehem,  beside  which  grow  two  palms.  The  two 
chief  Apostles  also  approach  Christ,  and  Peter  receives  from 
him  the  new  law.  Though  a  comparison  was  often  thus 
drawn  between  the  old  and  the  new  Law,  we  see  here  that  the 
fundamental  distinction  between  them  was  also  recognized,  for 
upon  the  scroll  which  the  Lord  hands  to  Peter  is  inscribed 


885 


Fig.  12G.  —  Mosaic  of  fourth  century,  decorating-  the  dome  of  S.  Costanza.     After  a  drawing 

by  d'Ollanda. 

DOMINUS  PACEM  DAT  —  the  new  law  comes  in  the  guise 
of  a  gift,  not  of  a  requisition.  According  to  Ugonio  the  mosaic 
of  the  spherical  vault  represented  Christ  seated  in  the  midst  of 
the  Apostles,  with  a  female  figure  on  either  side,  and  below,  the 
agnus  dei  accompanied  by  the  sheep. 

"We  are  left  in  a  good  deal  of  obscurity  about  the  mosaics 
with  which  Constantine  decorated  the  churches  of  Pome.  They 
are  merely  mentioned  in  the  Liber  Pontificcdis  and  first  de- 
scribed in  documents  of  a  much  later  age.  We  do  not  know 
how  early  the  facade  of  the  Vatican  basilica  received  its  mo- 
saic decoration.  At  the  time  of  its  destruction  it  had  three 
zones  of  figures :  Christ  between  the  Virgin  and  S.  Peter,  ac- 


MOSAICS—  Comtantinian  Period  301 

companied  by  the  symbols  of  the  four  Evangelists;  then  the 
Evangelists  themselves  between  the  windows  ;  and  below,  the 
four  and  twenty  elders  holding  up  their  crowns  to  Christ. 
The  upper  part  of  this  composition  is  known  to  have  under- 
gone numerous  changes.  In  a  restoration  by  Leo  I.  tin-  agnus 
del  was  depicted  in  the  place  afterward  occupied  by  Christ  in 
the  centre  of  the  picture.  It  is  not  certain  that  any  part  of 
the  composition  can  be  referred  to  the  time  of  Constantine. 

There  is  more  probability  that  the  apsidal  mosaics  were 
substantially  of  Constantinian  origin.  These  venerable  monu- 
ments perished  with  the  reconstruction  of  the  church  and  are 
only  known  from  ancient  descriptions.  In  the  apse  Christ  was 
seated  upon  a  throne  between  SS.  Peter  and  Paul.  Palms 
framed  the  scene  above,  and  at  the  bottom  was  the  divine 
Lamb  upon  the  mountain,  toward  which  moved  the  twelve 
sheep  from  the  towns  of  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem.  On  the 
triumphal  arch  Christ  had  on  his  left  S.  Peter  and  on  his 
right  the  Emperor  Constantine  —  offering  perhaps  the  model 
of  his  church. 

A  thick  acanthus  stem,  prolonged  in  regular  convolutions 
like  the  vine,  and  bearing  vine  leaves,  was  a  favorite  type  of 
decoration  under  Constantine.  It  adorned  the  sarcophagus  of 
his  sister;  and  it  received  in  the  following  century  a  very 
characteristic  and  beautiful  application  in  the  decoration  of 
the  apse.  It  may  be  suspected  that  this  design  originated  in 
the  time  of  Constantine,  though  there  are  actually  no  existent 
examples  of  it  in  mosaic  earlier  than  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century.  The  earliest  example  is  in  one  of  the  apses  of  what 
was  once  the  vestibule  of  the  Lateran  baptistery,  now  the 
chapel  of  S.  Venantius.  One  who  has  once  seen  it  will  not 
easily  forget  the  effect  of  the  large  and  supple  convolutions 
of  rich  foliage  against  the  luminous  purple  background.  An 
admirable  example  of  this  type  is  to  be  seen  in  the  apse  of 
S.  Maria  Maggiore :  the  central  part  of  this  decoration  is  cer- 
tainly due  to  the  early  Eenascence,  but  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  vine  pattern  was  ancient  and  was  distorted  to  make  room 
for  the  figure  of  the  Virgin.  Another  well-known  example  is 
the  apse  of  S.  Clemente,  which  is  likewise  a  late  work. 


302  PICTORIAL    ART 

DHEMES    OF    THE    A.PSIDAL    DECORATION 

More  characteristic  of  the  ap.sidal  decoration,  and  far  more 
commoiij  was  the  grand  symbolical  theme  which  represented 
Christ  enthroned  in  the  glory  of  the  new  Jerusalem,  and  the 
whole  range  of  subjects  which  naturally  accompanied  this. 
All  of  these  subjects  may  be  considered  as  a  whole,  because, 
though  they  are  not  all  represented  upon  any  one  monument, 
nor  even  upon  the  rare  monuments  which  are  preserved  to  us 
from  any  one  period,  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  they  were 
all  developed  early  in  the  fourth  century,  and  it  is  certain  at 
least  that  the  fundamental  principles  of  apsidal  decoration 
were  then  thoroughly  established  upon  lines  which  did  not  suf- 
fer any  essential  change  throughout  the  early  period,  and  which 
are  to  be  traced  even  through  the  Middle  Ages.  The  idea 
which  determined  their  character  was  the  desire  to  direct  the 
mind  to  the  divine  object  of  Christian  worship  and  enable  the 
worshippers  below  to  realize  in  vivid  terms  their  communion 
with  the  saints  in  heaven,  or  to  depict  the  adoration  of  the 
saints  and  angels  in  heaven  as  the  counterpart  of  the  worship 
of  the  Church  on  earth. 

These  representations,  as  is  natural,  were  chiefly  inspired  by 
the  Apocalypse,  which  represented  the  New  Jerusalem,  the 
Church  triumphant  in  heaven,  as  at  once  the  pattern  and  the 
reflection  of  the  Church  militant.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
this  unquestioning  reliance  upon  the  Apocalypse  at  a  time 
when  its  canonicity  was  seriously  questioned  in  influential 
quarters.  The  centre  of  the  composition  is  always  Christ, 
enthroned  in  glory  among  his  holy  angels,  among  his  Apostles, 
among  his  saints  and  martyrs.  The  Apocalypse  furnished  the 
form  for  all  of  these  themes ;  it  suggested  the  four  and  twenty 
elders  who  laid  their  crowns  at  Christ's  feet,  the  four  angelic 
beasts  which  symbolized  the  Evangelists,  the  martyrs  beneath 
the  altar,  the  four  rivers  of  paradise  which  issued  from  beneath 
the  throne,  and  the  divine  Lamb  which  is  represented  on  a 
throne,  before  which  is  the  book  with  the  seven  seals  and  on 
each  side  the  seven  candlesticks.  It  is  from  the  earlier  pas- 
toral symbolism  we  have  to  derive  the  twelve  sheep  which 
issue  from  the  towns  of  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem.  The  sym- 
bols of  the  Trinity  are  completed  by  the  hand  of-  God  which 


MOSAICS  —  Apsidal  Decoration  303 

appears  out  of  the  cloud  at  the  summit  of  the  apse,  holding  the 
crown  of  eternal  recompense,  and  by  the  dove  which  rains 
influence  upon  the  Church.  The  cross  also  appears,  not  the 
symbol  of  suffering  and  humiliation,  but  the  cross  triumphal, 
the  tree  of  life  which  was  in  the  midst  of  the  garden.  All  of 
these  subjects  —  Apostles,  Evangelists,  martyrs,  the  sacrificial 
Lamb,  the  cross,  the  dove  —  served  to  connect  the  scene  with 
the  Church  on  earth.  This  connection  was  rendered  still  more 
real  by  historic  martyrs,  designated  by  name  or  by  their  sym- 
bols, approaching  to  offer  their  crowns  to  Christ ;  and  by  the 
figure  of  the  founder  of  the  church,  who  though  still  living  is 
represented  in  the  midst  of  the  heavenly  company,  offering  a 
small  model  of  his  church,  the  symbol  of  the  gift  which  he 
dedicates  here  below. 

This  decoration  was  generally  confined  to  the  apse,  and  to  the 
apsidal,  or  the  triumphal  arch.  The  nave  was  chiefly  utilized 
for  historical  scenes  illustrative  of  the  Biblical  narrative.  But 
the  figures  of  Evangelists,  Apostles,  and  Prophets,  were  often 
depicted  in  the  spaces  between  the  windows ;  and  in  S.  Apolli- 
nare  Nuovo  at  Ravenna  a  continuous  composition  like  a  broad 
frieze  connected  the  whole  of  the  nave  with  the  symbolical 
theme  of  the  apse,  displaying  in  long  line  the  martyrs  —  vir- 
gins and  matrons  on  one  side,  and  men  on  the  other  —  offering 
their  crowns  to  Christ  and  to  the  Virgin. 

In  the  poetical  titvlus  which  he  composed  for  the  apse  of  the 
basilica  of  S.  Felix  at  Nola,  S.  Paulinus  furnishes  us  with  a 
profound  commentary  upon  apsidal  decoration  in  general. 
"  The  Trinity  gleams  in  its  full  mystery :  Christ  is  repre- 
sented in  the  form  of  a  lamb ;  the  voice  of  the  Father 
thunders  from  heaven ;  and,  through  the  dove,  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  poured  out.  The  cross  is  encompassed  by  a  circle  of  light 
as  by  a  crown.  The  crown  of  this  crown  are  the  Apostles 
themselves,  who  are  represented  by  a  choir  of  doves.  The 
divine  unit}r  of  the  Trinity  is  summarized  in  Christ.  The 
Trinity  has  at  the  same  time  its  own  emblems  :  God  is  repre- 
sented by  the  Paternal  voice,  and  by  the  Spirit ;  the  cross  and 
the  lamb  denote  the  Holy  Victim.  The  purple  background  and 
the  palms  indicate  royalty  and  triumph.  Upon  the  rock  He 
stands  who  is  the  Rock  of  the  Church,  from  which  flow  the  four 
murmuring  springs,  the  Evangelists,  living  rivers  of  Christ." 


304  PICTORIAL   ART 

Iii  contrast  to  the  profound  symbol  ism  of  the  apse,  the 
walls  of  the  nave  were  decorated  with  hunting  and  fishing 
scenes;  Panlinus  confesses  that  he  had  here  to  stoop  to  the 
tastes  of  the  people. 

The  technic  of  mosaic  was  admirably  adapted  to  the  repre- 
sentation of  such  grand  symbolical  themes  as  have  just  been 
described.  The  execution  of  liiblical  scenes  \v;is  not  always 
so  fortunate ;  they  must  often  have  been  copied  directly  from 
miniatures,  and  the  multiplication  of  details  and  the  effort  after 
realism  seriously  interfered  with  the  clear  effect  required.  In 
general,  it  may  be  said,  however,  that  there  was  very  little  dis- 
position to  strive  after  realistic  illusion,  or  to  imitate  the  tech- 
nic of  painting.  Particularly  after  the  fourth  century,  we 
notice  a  striking  boldness  of  treatment,  which  was  due  in  part 
to  incapacity  for  fine  designing  and  minute  gradations  in  color  ; 
but  it  was  a  defect  which  proved  in  many  ways  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  art.  Nothing,  in  fact,  was  more  important  than 
simple  design  and  strong  relief.  The  figures  were  hardly 
more  than  outlined,  and  yet  they  stood  out  against  the  gold 
or  purple  background  with  a  plastic  grace  and  force.  It  is 
only  by  a  tour  de  force  that  this  art  can  be  made  to  portray  in 
realistic  terms  the  objects  which  meet  the  eye;  its  true  force 
lies  in  its  suggestion ;  it  translates  everything  into  an  atmos- 
phere which  is  clearly  superhuman ;  it  was  adapted,  as  no 
other  art  was,  to  the  suggestion  of  the  heavenly  themes  which 
can  by  no  means  be  depicted. 

But  above  all,  and  always,  this  art  was  supremely  decora- 
tive. It  was  unrivalled  for  its  wealth  of  color,  and  for  its 
glinting  reflections  of  light,  as  from  the  surface  of  rippled 
water.  For  all  the  emphasis  which  is  given  to  the  sacred 
themes  which  alone  we  have  space  to  consider,  it  must  not  be 
forgot  that  the  purely  decorative  elements  which  were  carried 
down  by  an  unbroken  tradition  from  Classic  art  constituted  at 
all  times  an  important  feature  of  Christian  mosaics. 

APSIDAL    MOSAIC    OF    S.    PUDEXZIANA 

"When  we  come  to  trace  out,  in  the  monuments  which  have 
been  preserved  to  us,  the  general  principles  of  apsidal  decora- 
tion which  we  have  sketched  above,  it  must  be  remembered 


MOSAICS— S.  Pudenziana  305 

that  they  are  preserved  only  in  part,  here  the  mosaic  of  an 
apse,  there  of  an  arch,  each  of  them  perhaps  mutilated,  and  we 
must  piece  these  fragments  together  if  we  would  imagine  the 
total  effect  of  such  decoration.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that 
it  is  still  more  rare  to  find  a  monument  which  gives  any  idea 
of  the  whole  decoration  of  the  church,  nave  as  well  as  apse, 
historical  and  symbolical  themes  alike. 

The  oldest,  and  altogether  the  noblest  of  the  apsidal  mosaics 
is  that  which  decorates  the  church  which  is  supposed  to  be 
built  on  the  property,  perhaps  above  the  house,  of  the  senator 
Pudens,  whom  tradition  represents  as  the  host  and  friend  of 
S.  Peter,  who  was  likely  the  Pudens  referred  to  by  S.  Paul. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  date  of  the  original  foundation 
of  the  church,  it  is  known  to  have  been  rebuilt,  or  at  least 
remodelled,  in  the  time  of  Siricius  (384-399).  At  that  time 
a  certain  Leopardus,  who  was  titular  presbyter  of  the  church, 
dedicated  the  mosaic,  which  is  illustrated  in.  Fig.  127.  The 
dedicatory  inscription  of  Leopardus  perished  in  1588,  —  in  a 
transformation  of  the  church  which  irreparably  mutilated  the 
apse,  cutting  off  completely  the  lower  zone,  and  suppressing  a 
wide  strip  around  the  whole  circumference  of  the  mosaic. 
The  mosaic  has  also  suffered  restoration;  but,  with  all,  it 
retains  most  of  its  original  traits,  and  puts  before  us  more 
than  one  subject  of  singular  interest. 

In  the  centre  of  the  composition  Christ  is  seated  upon  the 
rich  cushions  of  a  throne  of  gold  studded  with  gems.  His 
vesture  likewise  is  of  gold,  and  he  has  a  simple  golden  nim- 
bus. Above  him  is  Mount  Calvary,  with  its  triumphal  cross 
of  gold  adorned  with  jewels.  Christ  is  in  the  attitude  of 
the  teacher,  making  a  gesture  of  proclamation  with  his  right 
hand,  while  in  his  left  he  holds  an  open  book,  on  which 
is  inscribed  dominus  conservator  ecclesi^e  pudextiax^;. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  church  was  originally  called  by  the 
name  of  Pudens  ;  the  feminine  adjective  which  is  used  in  the 
inscription  explains  how  there  arose  the  popular  notion  that 
the  church  was  dedicated  to  S.  Pudentiana,  who  was  one  of 
the  daughters  of  the  senator.  The  women  who  approach  Christ 
with  their  crowns  may  be  the  senator's  two  daughters,  Praxede 
and  Pudentiana ;  but  it  is  equally  likely  that  they  are  personi- 
fications of  the  Church  of  the  circumcision  and  the  Church  of 


300 


PICTORIAL  ART 


MOSAICS  —  S.    riiiliii;:iiiini. 


:J07 


the  Gentiles,  like  the  figures  which  we  saw  in  the  church  of 
S.  Sabina.  S.  Paul  is  on  the  right  hand  of  Christ,  and  S. 
Peter  on  the  left,  as  inscriptions  beneath  them  signify.  The 
figures  of  the  remaining  Apostles  have  been  very  much  cur- 
tailed, and  one  on  each  side  has  been  entirely  cut  off,  by  the 
vandalism  which  has  been  mentioned.  The  Apostles  occupy 
a  lower  bench  which  corresponds  exactly  to  the  position  of  the 
presbyters  with  relation  to  the  bishop's  cathedra.  A  small 
bit  of  the  mosaic  beneath  the  throne  of  Christ  is  still  pre- 
served (not  shown  in  this  picture) ;    it  represents  the  divine 


Fig.  128.  — Plan  of  Jerusalem.     Part  of  a  map  of  Palestine,  executed  in  colored  marble  for 
the  pavement  of  a  sixth-century  church  at  Madaba,  Palestine. 


Lamb  with  the  nimbus,  standing  upon  the  mountain,  and  above 
him  the  dove  shedding  down  the  beams  of  inspiration.  We 
have  to  suppose  that  the  part  of  the  lower  zone,  which  has 
been  destroyed  represented  the  twelve  sheep,  issuing  from  the 
sacred  cities  of  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem.  And  Ave  may  sup- 
pose, too,  that  the  symbols  of  the  Trinity  were  completed  by 
the  hand  of  God,  holding  the  crown  above  the  cross.  The  four 
symbols  of  the  Evangelists  have  a  grandeur  which  has  seldom 
been  excelled. 

This  is  the  only  apsidal  mosaic  which  has  been  preserved 
to  us  from  the  fourth  century.  Its  style  of  execution  is  very 
far  superior  to  any  others  which  we  have.  With  what  has 
already  been  said,  the  essential  significance  of  the  picture  is 


:;os  PICTORIAL   ART 

very  clear,  [t  remains  only  to  call  attentioD  to  the  buildings 
which  form  the  background.  They  have  an  appearance  of 
realism  which  contrasts  strongly  with  the  merely  imaginary 
and  impossible  architectural  creations  which  appear  in  later 
mosaics.  De  Rossi  supposed,  therefore,  that  they  may  have 
represented  well-known  buildings  of  ancient  Koine. 

A  better  suggestion  has  lately  been  made,  and  one  which 
puts  the  whole  symbolism  of  the  picture  in  a  new  and  interest- 
in--  light.  This  suggestion  was  due  to  the  discovery,  in  a  small 
church  at  Madaba  in  Palestine,  of  a  mosaic  floor  which  repre- 
sents with  various  colored  marbles  the  map  of  the  Holy  Land, 
with  the  cities  of  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem  on  a  larger  scale. 
Figure  128  gives,  on  a  small  scale  and  without  the  assistance  of 
the  colors,  an  idea  of  the  panorama  map  of  Jerusalem.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  it  does  not  adhere  strictly  to  any  one  system, 
either  to  perspective  or  to  plan.  It  is  a  curious  production, 
but  it  is  of  very  great  interest  for  the  topography  of  Jeru- 
salem in  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century. 

This  map  was  expressly  designed  to  show  the  sites  of  the 
churches  of  Jerusalem  as  they  appeared  after  Justinian  had 
completed  his  colossal  work  of  church  construction.  Those 
who  are  learned  in  the  topography  of  Jerusalem  claim  to 
recognize  most  of  these  sites.  As  our  present  purpose  is  a 
comparison  with  the  mosaic  of  S.  Pudenziana,  we  are  spe- 
cially interested  in  the  aspect  of  the  city  at  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century,  that  is,  particularly  with  the  shrines  of  Con- 
stantinian  foundation. 

The  walls  are  here  represented  as  they  were  extended  after 
the  time  of  Constantine  to  include  the  shrines  which  that 
emperor  erected  upon  Mount  Calvary  in  memory  of  the  Lord's 
Passion  and  Resurrection.  The  principal  topographical  fea- 
ture of  the  city  is  the  broad  street,  flanked  by  covered  colon- 
nades, which  intersects  it  from  north  to  south.  This  street 
starts  at  the  north  from  a  great  square  in  the  middle  of  which 
stands  a  column.  The  neighboring  gate  flanked  by  two  towers 
is  now  called  the  gate  of  Damascus,  but  the  Arabian  name, 
Bab-el- araud  (gate  of  the  column),  preserves  a  reminiscence 
of  the  column,  although  it  has  now  disappeared.  The  three 
small  gates  at  the  other  end  of  the  street  lead  toward  the 
southwest  to  Mount  Zion,  and  toward  the  southeast  to  the  base 


MOSAICS—  S.   Pudenziana  309 

of  Mount  Moriah.  The  building  marked  B  just  outside  gate 
IX.  corresponds  to  the  basilica  erected  by  Justinian  on  the 
site  of  the  Cenacolo  on  Mount  Zion,  called  Mater  ecclesiarum. 

Above  this  a  sort  of  tower,  marked  C,  is  supposed  to  repre- 
sent the  basilica  of  the  Presentation,  which  Avas  greatly  en- 
larged by  Justinian  and  is  now  a  mosque.  Gate  II.,  the  only 
one  on  the  west,  is  the  Joppa  gate.  On  the  eastern  side  of 
the  city  and  parallel  to  the  main  thoroughfare  is  another  long 
street  with  a  colonnade  on  only  one  side.  From  about  the 
middle  of  it  a  street  proceeds  directly  east  to  gate  IV.  It  is 
supposed  that  the  arch  of  the  Ecce  homo,  seen  by  S.  Anthony 
in  the  sixth  century,  was  located  at  the  entrance  to  this  street ; 
and  directly  opposite  is  the  building  which  is  taken  to  be  the 
Prsetorium.  Gate  III.,  which  stands  next  toward  the  south, 
was  the  porta  aurea.  It  was  the  gate  of  ingress  to  the  Temple 
of  Solomon,  which  was  located  at  a  little  distance  to  the  south- 
west. The  road  which  issued  from  it  led  to  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  where  Constantine  built  the  church  of  the  Ascension. 

The  group  of  buildings  in  which  we  are  chiefly  interested 
is  that  which  lies  just  west  of  the  middle  of  the  main  street 
and  covers  Mount  Calvary.  These  buildings  are  all  ascribed 
to  Constantine.  The  enumeration  of  them  which  is  given  by 
Eusebius  and  S.  Silvia  corresponds  very  well  with  the  map. 
A  great  flight  of  steps  (mentioned  by  several  early  pilgrims) 
leads  up  from  the  street  to  the  basilica  (the  Martyrium)  which 
was  erected  upon  the  site  of  the  Crucifixion.  The  basilica  is 
plainly  distinguished  by  its  three  doors  and  gable  roof.  Be- 
hind it,  and  half  hidden  by  it,  is  the  round  church  of  the 
Anastasis  with  which  it  was  connected.  The  accounts  speak, 
in  no  very  clear  terms,  of  an  "  atrium "  which  included  the 
spot  where  the  Holy  Cross  was  discovered.  This  appears  to 
be  indicated  by  the  quadrangle  which  is  intersected  by  a  cross. 

Turning  without  more  ado  to  the  explanation  of  the  mosaic, 
the  first  and  most  striking  point  of  comparison  is  the  colon- 
nade. It  appears  as  if  the  artist  intended  to  represent  the 
Lord  enthroned  in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem  —  the  new  and 
heavenly  Jerusalem,  be  it  understood,  but  represented  in 
terms  of  the  Christian  city  as  it  then  was.  Surely  no  better 
place  could  have  been  chosen  for  the  throne  of  Christ  than  the 
middle  of  the  main  street,  in  front  of  the  imposing  colonnade 


.'HO  PICTORIAL   ART 

and  the  stairway  which  led  lip  to  Calvary.  If  we  suppose 
thai  Christ  is  represented  facing  the  east,  we  have  in  its  true 
position  behind  him  the  rugged  top  of  Calvary  surmounted  by 
the  cross.  It  is  significant  that  this  is  the  first  representation 
we  have  of  the  cross  as  an  element  of  prime  importance  in  a 
picture.  We  have  to  note  that  the  symbolical  and  topographi- 
cal interest  of  the  artist  conflict  at  this  point.  For  it  is  evi- 
dent that  he  wished  to  represent  the  buildings  which  covered 
Calvary,  but  was  unable  strictly  to  combine  this  aim  with  his 
representation  of  the  cross.  He  locates  them,  however,  approxi- 
mately in  the  right  position  and  at  the  just  elevation,  the 
Anastasis  at  the  left  and  the  Martynum  partly  behind  the 
mountain.  The  crenelated  walls  of  the  city  appear  at  intervals 
in  the  background. 

On  the  right  there  is  a  similar  group,  a  polygonal  church, 
apparently  with  an  attached  basilica  which  is  in  the  same  way 
partly  hidden  behind  the  mountain.  This  suggests  the  church 
of  the  Ascension,  which  was,  we  have  reason  to  believe  (p. 
142),  a  polygonal  building.  This  was  located  on  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  and  its  introduction  here  would,  of  course,  be  a 
violent  departure  from  the  topographical  arrangement.  But 
the  composition  is  preeminently  a  symbolical  one,  and  in 
introducing  into  the  picture  representations  of  the  chief 
churches  of  Jerusalem  the  artist  was  under  no  necessity  of 
cumbering  himself  about  topographical  accuracy.  We  can 
well  understand,  on  the  other  hand,  why  he  should  wish  to 
group  about  Calvary  the  great  Constantinian  shrines  which 
commemorated  the  Crucifixion,  the  Resurrection,  and  the 
Ascension.  It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  building  which  is 
here  taken  to  be  the  church  of  the  Ascension  has  its  roof  tilted 
forward  as  though  expressl}'  to  display  the  opening  in  the 
centre  of  it  which  was  one  of  the  most  significant  character- 
istics of  the  building. 

There  is  another  monument  in  Rome  which  is  supposed  to 
represent  these  same  churches.  It  is  the  relief  on  the  end  of 
a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  (Fig.  96)  which  represents  Moses 
striking  the  rock,  and  Christ  healing  the  woman  with  the  issue. 
Jerusalem  was  not  the  scene  of  either  of  these  eyents ;  but  it- 
is  not  in  itself  improbable  that  Jerusalem  was  taken  as  an 
artistic    background  to  represent  in  a  general  way  the  Holy 


MOSAICS— S.  Paul's  311 

Land.  At  any  rate  we  have  here,  apparently,  two  basilicas, 
and  attached  to  them  two  round  churches.  In  this  case,  it 
must  be  confessed,  we  have  no  polygonal  building,  and  the 
basilicas  are  without  clearstories. 


APSIDAL    MOSAICS    OF    THE    FIFTH    AND    SIXTH    CENTURIES 

Of  the  mosaic  decoration  of  S.  Paul's,  which  was  executed 
under  Leo  I.,  toward  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  there 
remains  only  the  triumphal  arch,  and  that  is  almost  entirely 
the  work  of  the  restorers  after  the  fire  which  destroyed  the 
church.  The  original  theme,  however,  is  preserved.  In  the 
centre  is  the  bust  of  the  Saviour  surrounded  by  a  great  nim- 
bus. Close  by  are  two  adoring  angels,  and  below  are  the  four- 
and-twenty  elders  offering  him  their  crowns.  The  symbols  of 
the  Evangelists  are  disposed  in  a  row  at  the  top.  The  inscrip- 
tion above  reads :  — 

THEODOSIUS    CEPIT,  PERFECIT    OXORIUS    AULAM 
DOCTORIS    MUXDI    SACRATAM    CORPORE    PAULI. 

There  are  other  fifth-century  mosaics  in  Rome  which  deserve 
attention,  but  in  this  place,  where  we  are  following  the  charac- 
teristic theme  of  apsidal  decoration,  we  have  to  descend  to  the 
sixth  century  for  the  next  monument.  The  apsidal  mosaic  of 
SS.  Cosma  and  Damiano  (Fig.  129)  was  executed  under  Felix 
IV.  (526-530).  This  work  shows  the  influence  upon  art  of 
that  new  race,  the  Gothic  barbarians  of  the  North,  which  had 
already  become  dominant  in  political  affairs.  The  faces  are 
of  a  type  never  found  in  classic  art ;  they  have  a  certain 
almost  savage  forcefulness,  which,  together  with  the  colossal 
size  of  the  figures  and  the  statuesque  majesty  with  which  they 
stand  out  against  the  dark  blue  background,  produces  an  effect 
which  cannot  readily  be  forgot.  Christ  stands  upon  a  shim- 
mering path  of  cloud ;  out  of  the  rosy  clouds  above  his  head 
the  hand  of  God  was  originally  extended  with  the  crown  of 
recompense  (now  destroyed  by  a  window  opening).  Christ 
alone  has  the  nimbus ;  he  wears  a  white  tunic  and  pallium 
stiffly  embroidered  with  gold ;  the  right  hand  is  stretched  out 
with  a  gesture  of  proclamation,  the  left  holds  a  scroll.     The 


812 


MCTolt/AL   ART 


face  of  Christ,  presents  a  type  which  we  have  not  hitherto 
seen;  his  hair  falls  beneath  his  shoulders,  lie  wears  a  full 
beard;  the  lace  is  longer  and  older  than  usual,  and  has  an  ex- 
pression which  is  severe  without  being  harsh.  The  face  of  S. 
Paul,  who  stands  on  the  right,  is  also  more  characteristically 
marked  than  usual.  The  two  Apostles  are  presenting  to  Christ 
the  physicians  Cosmas  and  Damianus,  martyrs  of  Media  and 
patrons  of  this  church.     At  the  right  is  the  figure  of  S.  Theo- 


Fig.  129. — Apsidal  mosaic  of  SS.  Cosma  and  Damiano,  Rome.  Sixth  century.  Christ 
stands  upon  the  clouds  of  heaven,  Peter  and  Paul  introduce  the  Median  martyrs,  Cosmas 
and  Damianus,  patrons  of  the  church,  together  with  S.  Theodore  and  Felix  IV.,  the 
founder  of  the  church. 


dore,  likewise  offering  his  crown  to  Christ;  and  on  the  left  is 
represented  Pope  Felix  (restored)  offering  the  model  of  the 
church  which  he  here  dedicates.  On  either  side  are  the  tra- 
ditional palms ;  upon  one  of  them  is  perched  the  phoenix,  the 
bird  of  immortality,  with  a  rayed  nimbus  about  its  head.  This 
figure,  which  is  hardly  visible  in  the  illustration,  is  close  to 
the  right  hand  of  Christ.  BeloAv  is  represented  the  Lamb  with 
the  nimbus,  standing  upon  the  mountain.  The  four  streams 
are  here  named:  Geon,  Fyson,  Tigris,  Eufrata.  The  twelve 
sheep  issue  as  usual  from  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem. 

The  arch  above,  which  has  unfortunately  been  largely  de- 


MOSAICS— S.  Lorenzo 


313 


stroyed,  represented  Apocalyptic  scenes  ;  in  the  ce: 
Hon  with  azure  ground  represented  the  mystic  Lan 

an  altar  and  sur- 
mounted by  a  cross, 
with  the  book  of 
the  seven  seals  at 
his  feet ;  on  each 
side  are  the  lighted 
candlesticks ;  four 
angels  approach 
him  through  the 
clouds ;  and  finally 
there  were  the  sym- 
bols of  the  Eva:rgel- 
ists  —  two  of  which 
have  been  de- 
stroyed. Of  the 
f  on  r-and-  twenty 
elders  who  stood 
below  nothing  re- 
mains but  two  arms 
extending  their 
crowns. 

A  half  century 
later,  under  Pela- 
gius  II.  (579-590), 
was  executed  the 
mosaic  decoration 
of  S.  Lorenzo.  Of 
this  nothing  is  left 
but  the  mosaic  of 
the  arch  (Fig.  130). 
On  the  right  hand 
of  Christ  are  S. 
Peter,  S.  Lawrence, 
Pelagius  offering 
the  model  of  the 
church  which  he 
had  restored,  and 
the  town  of  Jerusa- 
lem ;    on    the   left, 


tre 


a  in 
in.1'- 


eaai- 
upon 


314 


I'K  •■/•< HUM    ART 


S.   Paul,  S.  Stephen,  S.   Hippolytus,  and  finally  the  town  of 
Bethlehem.     The  position  of  the  A.postles  is  here  the  reverse 


Fig.  131.  —  Mosaic  in  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe,  near  Ravenna.     Seventh  century.     A  repre- 
sentation of  the  Christian  altar,  with  the  sacrifices  of  Abel,  Melchizedek,  and  Abraham. 

of   the  usual   order ;    it  is  Paul   who  usually   stands   on   the 
right,  and  Peter  on  the  left.     Bethlehem  is  always  on  the  side 


Fig.  132. 


■Mosaic  in  S.  Vitale,  Ravenna.     Sixth  century.     A  representation  of  the  Chris- 
tian altar  with  the  sacrifices  of  Abel  and  Melchizedek. 


of  S.  Paul,  and  Jerusalem  on  that  of  S.  Peter ;  for  they  repre- 
sent  respectively  the   Churches  of  the  Gentiles   and   of  the 


MOSAICS—  S.  Vitale  315 

Jews,  —  Bethlehem  being  the  town  to  which  the  Magi  came 
bearing  the  homage  of  the  Gentiles.  Above  these  towns  are 
two  windows  of  alabaster  and  glass,  which  had  been  used  in 
the  earlier  building  and  were  incorporated  here  simply  as  a 
decoration.  All  of  the  figures  except  Pelagius  have  the  nim- 
bus ;  the  nimbus  of  Christ  has  the  cross  inscribed  in  it.  Christ 
is  seated  upon  the  globe  of  the  world,  but  his  figure  corre- 
sponds ill  with  the  dignity  of  his  position.  We  have  here 
what  is  perhaps  the  earliest  example  of  an  ascetic  representa- 
tion of  Christ ;  it  is  marked  by  the  thin  face  and  pointed  beard, 
as  well  as  by  the  sombre  coloring  of  his  garments.  This  re- 
flects the  rapid  progress  of  monasticism  in  the  West  during 
the  sixth  century. 

One  other  example  of  apsidal  decoration  must  suffice ;  that 
takes  us  to  Ravenna  and  introduces  us  to  the  style  of  decora- 
tion which  was  appropriate  to  the  enlarged  apsidal  room  of  the 
domed  churches.  The  church  of  S.  Vitale  was  built  and  its 
decoration  completed  during  the  reign  of  Justinian.  It  repre- 
sents, therefore,  Byzantine  art  in  the  latest  phase  of  its  devel- 
opment within  the  period  which  we  have  here  to  study.  We 
see,  however,  that  it  was  not  yet  differentiated  from  the  art  of 
the  West,  except  by  its  purer  preservation  of  Classical  style. 
It  retained  a  suppleness  of  form  and  a  richness  of  ornamenta- 
tion which  are  not  to  be  found  for  more  than  a  century  previ- 


Fig.    133.  —  Mosaic   in   S.    Vitale,    Ravenna.     Sixth   century.     Abraham    entertaining  the 
angels,  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac. 

ous  in  the  mosaics  of  Borne.     The  great  dome  of  this  church 
is  without  mosaic  decoration  ;  it  is  only  the  presbyterium  Ave 


310 


pictobial  Airr 


MOSAICS  — S.  Vitale  317 

have  to  study.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  presbyterium 
of  this  church  was  deeply  recessed.  On  the  arch  which  sepa- 
rated it  from  the  main  room  were  the  medallions  of  the  twelve 
Apostles  and  of  SS.  Gervasius  and  Protasius,  and  in  the  mid- 
dle the  medallion  of  Christ.  The  great  vault  of  the  presbyte- 
rium is  adorned  with  green  foliage  upon  a  ground  of  gold,  and 
by  four  admirable  angels  supporting  with  outstretched  arms  a 
medallion  in  which  is  represented  the  divine  Lamb,  the  symbol 
of  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice.  On  the  walls  immediately  below 
we  have  a  decoration  which  is  of  secondary  importance,  but 
highly  interesting  for  its  style :  angels  supporting  the  mono- 
gram of  Christ,  the  figures  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  scenes  from 
the  life  of  Moses,  and  the  four  Evangelists  with  their  symbols 
(Fig.  140).  Below  is  represented  a  theme  which  we  have  not 
hitherto  encountered,  though  it  is  one  which  is  very  appropri- 
ate for  the  altar  room:  in  two  lunettes  are  grouped  together 
the  Old  Testament  types  of  the  Eucharist.  One  (Fig.  133) 
represents  Abraham's  three  angelic  guests ;  they  are  seated 
under  the  oak  of  Mamre  at  a  plain  wooden  table  without  a 
cloth,  upon  which  are  three  loaves  marked  with  the  cross. 
The  patriarch  has  his  loins  girded  to  serve  them,  and  carries 
on  a  platter  the  calf  which  he  has  killed ;  Sarah  stands  listen- 
ing iu  the  doorway.  On  the  other  side  of  the  table  Abraham 
is  about  to  sacrifice  his  son  Isaac ;  he  is  stopped  by  the  hand 
of  God,  and  the  lamb  which  was  to  be  the  substitute  stands  at 
his  feet.  In  this  instance  he  is  clothed  in  the  white  tunic  and 
pallium ;  in  the  former  instance  in  a  short  tunic  of  dark  color. 
The  opposite  lunette  (Fig.  132)  more  expressly  represents  the 
typical  application  to  the  Eucharist  hj  depicting  in  the  middle 
the  Christian  altar.  It  is  a  stone  table  supported  upon  four 
legs,  and  covered  first  with  a  heavy  woollen  cloth  of  dark  color, 
and  above  with  a  white  linen  cloth  fringed  at  the  edge  and 
adorned  with  the  customary  embroidery.  Upon  it  stands  the 
chalice  and  two  loaves.  Melchizedek  offers  up  to  God  a  simi- 
lar loaf.  He  wears  shoes,  a  loose  tunic  with  a  broad  border 
and  a  sash,  and  a  long  mantle  which  is  fastened  at  the  breast 
—  it  was  the  dress  of  Oriental  kings.  His  palace  appears  in 
the  background.  On  the  other  side  Abel,  in  the  dress  of  a 
shepherd,  issues  from  his  simple  cabin  and  presents  his  lamb 
as  an  acceptable  sacrifice  to  God. 


318 


PICTORIAL   ART 


This  theme  was  represented  again,  aboul  a  century  later,  in 
very  similar  fashion  in    S.   A.pollinare   in   Classe   (Fig.  131). 


MOSAICS— Historical  Subjects  319 

Here  we  have  Abel,  Abraham,  and  Melchizedek  all  grouped 
about  the  altar,  which  in  this  case  is  supported  upon  five  legs 
and  has  only  the  linen  cover. 

But  to  return  to  S.  Vitale.  It  is  in  the  apse  we  have  the 
most  marked  expression  of  Greek  or  Byzantine  art.  Christ, 
young  and  beardless,  is  seated  upon  the  globe  of  the  world;  in 
his  left  hand  is  a  book,  and  with  his  right  he  holds  out  the 
crown  of  recompense  to  his  followers.  On  each  side  stands  a 
majestic  angel,  with  black  hair  bound  with  a  white  hllet. 
Beyond  on  the  right  stands  S.  Vitale  dressed  like  an  officer 
of  the  court,  and  on  the  left  is  the  Bishop  Ecclesius  offering 
the  model  of  the  church. 

Flanking  the  apse  on  each  side  are  two  compositions  which 
have  nothing  in  common  with  the  themes  which  we  have 
studied.  On  the  left  (Fig.  134)  the  Emperor  Justinian  is 
represented  carrying  a  votive  paten  as  a  gift  to  the  church. 
He  is  preceded  by  his  clergy,  one  deacon  carrying  a  censer, 
another  the  book  of  the  gospels,  while  the  bishop  holds  a 
cross ;  there  follow  officers  of  the  court  and  soldiers.  On  the 
right  (Fig.  135)  is  the  Empress  Theodora  with  her  courtiers 
and  ladies ;  she  is  carrying  as  her  gift  a  large  chalice,  and  is 
just  on  the  point  of  entering  the  door  of  the  church. 

HISTORICAL    SUBJECTS 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  all  apsidal  mosaics  were  sym- 
bolical and  Apocalyptic,  nor  on  the  other  hand  that  symbolical 
subjects  were  confined  to  the  apse.  We  have  the  most  famous 
example  of  an  historical  treatment  on  the  great  arch  of  S.  Maria 
Maggiore  at  Borne  (Fig.  136).  The  character  of  the  mosaic  was 
peculiarly  appropriate  to  this  church,  for  it  was  the  earliest  and 
the  greatest  basilica  in  the  West  to  be  dedicated  to  the  Virgin, 
and  it  was  closely  associated  with  the  story  of  Jesus'  birth  by 
the  fact  that  it  had  under  its  floor  a  crypt  in  imitation  of  the 
cave  and  manger  of  the  church  at  Bethlehem. 

The  mosaic  of  the  arch  is  due  to  Sixtus  III.  (432-410).  The 
inscription  at  the  summit  reads  briefly :  SIXTUS  EPI SCOPUS 
PLEBI  DEI  — "Sixtus,  the  bishop,  to  the  people  of  God." 
Above  the  inscription  (not  shown  in  the  illustration)  there  is  a 
mere  compendium  of  the  Apocalyptic  decoration  :  a  medallion 


820 


I'UToniM.   .\irr 


with  gold  ground  frames  a  jewelled  throne  with  rich  cushions 
upon  which  is  placed  a  wreath  and  a  cross;  on  each  side  are 
the  two  Apostles  and  the  symbols  of  the  Evangelists.     At  the 


Fig.   186.  —  Apsidfll 

Majrfriore,   Rome.     First 

The  Virpin  seated,  accom- 

pears    to   Joseph,  the   jire- 

vi-it    of   the    Magi,    a    miracle 

slaughter   of  the   innocents,    the 

lt  from  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem. 


very  bottom  of  the  arch  we 
have  the  towns  of  Jerusalem 
and  Bethlehem  with  their  sheep  ; 
the  rest  of  the  arch  is  given  up  to 
an  historical  composition  in  three 
zones  representing  the  story  of  Mary 
and  the  infancy  of  Jesus,  accord- 
ing to  apocryphal  as  well  as  the 
canonical  Gospels.  It  is  supposed  that 
this  mosaic  was  intended  as  a  com- 
memoration of  the  council  of  Ephesus, 
which  was  a  triumph  for  the  Roman 
Church,  and  which,  in  defining  the  doc- 
trine of  our  Lord's  Person,  vindicated  at 
the  same  time  the  name  Mother  of  God 
for  the  Virgin,  and  gave  an  impetus  to  representations  of  her 
story  in  art. 

Beginning  at  the  left  and  with  the  uppermost  zone :  Mary 
richly  attired  is  seated  spinning  before  her  house ;  the  dove 
and  the  angel  Gabriel  at  once  descend  toward  her,  and  in  the 


MOSAICS—  S.  Maria  Maggiore 


321 


next  instant  Gabriel  is  represented  standing  before  her  and 
delivering  his  message.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Virgin  are 
the  two  angels  whom  God  sent  to  be  her  guard;  they  appear 


arch  of   S.  Maria 
half   of    fifth    century, 
panied  by  angels,  au  angel 
sentation  at  the  Temple,   the 
in    Egypt   (apocryphal   source 
Magi  before  Herod,  the  sheep  i 


again  at  the  right  consulting 
with  Joseph  before  announcing 
the  pregnancy  of  Mary.  Joseph 
stands  in  an  attitude  of  hesitation 
in  front  of  a  small  temple.  Follow- 
ing the  same  zone  :  the  two  angels 
accompany  Mary  and  the  infant  to  the 
Temple  for  the  Presentation ;  another 
angel  guides  Joseph.  They  are  already 
in  the  court  of  the  Temple,  as  is  indicated 
by  the  colonnade  behind ;  Anna  and 
Simeon  hasten  toward  them ;  a  group  of 
priests  stand  in  front  of  the  Temple,  upon 
the  porch  of  which  doves  are  feeding. 
Farther  to  the  right  it  is  supposed  that 
the  flight  into  Egypt  was  represented,  of  which  only  the 
figure  of  an  angel  and  part  of  that  of  the  Virgin  are  visible. 
The  mosaic  has  been  partially  destroyed  on  both  sides,  but 
more  particularly  on  this.  The  next  zone  represents  the  adora- 
tion of  the  Magi :  the  infant  Jesus  is  seated  upon  a  great  throne ; 


J'JCTOR/AL    . I /,'/' 


he  has  a  nimbus  surmounted  by  a  small  cross,  and  above  him 
is  the  star.  Four  angels  stand  behind  him,  and  on  each  side 
of  the  throne  two  women,  one  young  and  the  other  old  —  per- 
haps Mary  and  the  nurse.  Only  two  of  the  Magi  appear,  but 
the  other  was  probably  represented  at  the  other  side  and  has 
been  cut  off  with  the  mutilation  of  the  mosaic.  On  the  other 
side  is  represented  a  scene  taken  from  one  of  the  apocryphal 
Gospels,  according  to  which  on  the  arrival  of  the  Divine  Infant 
at  a  certain  town 
in  Egypt  all  the 
idols  fell  down, 
and  the  people 
and  their  king 
came  out  and 
worshipped  him. 
The  Nile  is  in- 
dicated in  the 
picture  by  a  blue 
streak  in  the 
background.  The 
next  zone  repre- 
sents on  one  side 
the  massacre  of 
the  innocents, 
and  on  the  other 
the  Magi  before 
Herod.  An  Ori- 
ental influence  is 
shown  in  this 
mosaic  by  the  ex- 
travagant richness  of  the  costumes  and  architecture.  Mary 
is  dressed  like  an  empress,  and  her  humble  home  at  Nazareth 
is  a  palace. 

It  is  probable  that  the  mosaics  which  adorn  the  nave  of  this 
church  belong  to  the  preceding  century,  —  that  is  to  the  first 
foundation  of  the  church  by  Liberius.  They  are  arranged  in 
small  contiguous  compartments  above  the  straight  epistyle  on 
each  side  of  the  central  aisle,  and  also  on  the  wall  above  the 
door.  There  were  originally  forty  compartments,  of  which  six 
were  destroyed  by  the  arches  which  were  constructed  before 


The  capture  of  Jericho. 
Specimens  of  the  historical  mosaics  above  the 


MOSAICS— S.  Marin  Maggiore 


323 


two  side  chapels,  while  others  have  been  replaced  by  modern 
paintings  or  mosaics.  On  the  left  hand  arc  depicted  episodes 
in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs;  on  the  right  the  story  of 
Moses  and  Joshua.  Figure  I'M  represents  two  of  the  subjects  : 
the  fall  of  Jericho,  and  Joshua  commanding  the  sun  to  stand 
still.  Both  of  these  subjects  have  a  high  dramatic  interest; 
but  very  often  the  choice  seems  to  have  been  made  without 

reference  to  the 
importance  of  the 
theme,  or  to  its 
dramatic  possibili- 
ties. The  artist 
seems  to  have 
picked  out  his  sub- 
jects at  random 
from  an  illustrated 
Bible.  It  was  the 
fashion  of  the  early 
miniatures  to  fol- 
low closely  the  nar- 
rative,  with  an 
illustration  for  the 
principal  theme  of 
every  page.  Many 
of  these  mosaics 
are  quite  incompre- 
hensible without  a 
minute  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Pen- 
tateuch. Their 
chief  interest  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  give  us  an  idea  of  the 
character  of  the  earliest  illustrated  Bibles.  They  suggest 
interesting  comparisons  with  some  of  the  early  miniature 
manuscripts,  particularly  with  the  Joshua  Roll  of  the  Vatican. 
Above  these  ancient  mosaics,  between  the  windows  of  the 
clearstory  wall,  there  was  once  represented  a  procession  of 
martyrs  with  the  instruments  of  their  torture  under  their  feet. 
For  the  next,  indeed  for  the  only  other  example  of  a  series 
of  Biblical  illustrations  which  has  been  preserved  to  us  from 
among  the  many  which  once  adorned  the  naves  of  the  churches, 


Joshua  commanding:  the  sun. 
nave  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  Rome.     Fourth  century. 


.TJ  \ 


riCTOTilAL   ART 


we  must,  turn  to  the  church  of  s.  A.pollinare  Nuovo  at  Ravenna, 
(Fig.  37).     This  church  is  a  monument  of  the  Gothic  rule,  and 

though  the  decoration  was  executed  by  the  Greek  or  Roman 
artists  who  were  naturally  attracted  to  the  seat  of  government 
it  affords  a  striking  testimony  to  Theodoric's  enlightened  pat- 
ronage of  art.  It  was  erected  about  the  year  500  as  the  Arian 
cathedral,  and  when  in  the  year  570  it  was  reconsecrated  for 
Catholic  worship,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  mosaic  decoration 
suffered  any  addition  or  any  change.     In  later  times  the  apsi- 


Fig.  138.  — Part  of  a  long  mosaic  frieze  on  the  right  wall  of  the  nave  of  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo, 

enthroned  between 


dal  mosaics  have  been  barbarously  superseded  by  modern 
stucco  and  paint;  but  we  have  still  in  the  nave  the  most 
complete  example  of  church  decoration  which  has  been  pre- 
served to  us  from  the  early  period.  It  is  not  unlike  the  deco- 
ration of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  only  the  relations  are  reversed  5  the 
Biblical  illustrations,  which  deal  exclusively  with  the  life  of 
Christ,  are  arranged  in  small  compartments  above  each  of  the 
windows,  and  the  procession  of  saints  constitutes  a  continuous 
frieze  immediately  above  the  colonnade.  Between  the  windows 
stand  the  white-robed  figures  of  Apostles  and  prophets. 

Nothing  could  be  more  effective  or  more  appropriate  for  the 


MOSAICS — 8.  Apollinare  Nuovo 


325 


decoration  of  the  clearstory  wall  than  the  long  procession  of 
martyrs  which  issue  from  the  cities  of  Classis  and   Ravenna, 

and  approach  on  the  one  side  the  enthroned  Christ,  and  on 
the  other  the  infant  Jesus  and  his  Mother.  On  the  left,  the 
women's  side  of  the  church,  is  a  long  line  of  twenty-two  female 
martyrs  led  by  the  Three  Magi  (Fig.  139)  to  the  Virgin  and 
Child,  who  are  enthroned  between  four  angels.  The  mart  \  cs 
are  all  clothed  alike  in  a  white  stola  and  in  a  rich  palla  em- 
broidered with  gold  and  pearls ;  their  brows  are  encircled  by 


Ravenna.  Sixth  century.  A  procession  of  martyrs  offering  their  crowns  to  Christ,  who  is 
four  angels. 

a  coronet  from  which  depends  a  long  white  veil,  with  one 
corner  of  which  they  veil  their  hands  in  carrying  the  crown 
which  they  come  to  lay  at  the  feet  of  Christ.  They  march  in 
close  rank,  barely  separated  from  one  another  by  palms  and 
lilies ;  they  are  distinguished  only  by  the  names  which  are 
written  above  them,  S.  Agnes  alone  is  accompanied  b}*  her 
attribute,  the  lamb.  This  composition,  as  well  as  that  which 
represents  twenty-six  male  figures  on  the  other  side  of  the 
nave,  has  been  criticised  for  its  monotony ;  but  this,  which 
might  well  be  accounted  a  defect  in  any  other  place,  is  here 
thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the  monotonous  line  of  columns 


S26  PICTORIAL    ART 

below,  and  conspires  with  them  to  carry  the  eye  on  to  the 
centre  of  worship  in  the  a]>sc  The  procession  of  male  mar- 
tyrs (Fig.  L38),  on  the  right  side  of  the  nave,  approaches  Christ 
enthroned  between  four  angels;  the  martyrs  are  here  also  dis- 
tinguished only  by  their  names;  they  carry  their  crowns  in 
the  lap  of  the  pallium,  and  they  are  separated  by  palms.  The 
nimbus  of  the  martyrs  consists  of  a  circle  of  light,  that  of  the 


Fig.  139.  —  Part  of  a  lung  mosaic  frieze  on  the  left  wall  of  the  nave  of  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo, 

inff  their  crowns  to  the 


angels  and  of  the  Virgin  is  a  solid  disk  ;  in  the  nimbus  of  Christ 
is  inscribed  the  cross. 

The  picture  of  Christ,  with  oval  face  and  pointed  beard,  is 
exceedingly  interesting ;  it  is  here  for  the  first  time  that  we 
see  depicted  the  type  which  characterized  most  of  the  subse- 
quent representations.  It  is  an  admirable  idealization,  combin- 
ing harmoniously  the  traits  of  gentleness  and  majesty.  The 
mediaeval  representations  fell  distinctly  below  it,  they  err  by 
an  exaggeration  of  the  traits  of  harshness  or  of  suffering;  it 
was  not  till  the  Eenascence  that  this  early  attempt  at  the 
idealization  of  the  God-man  was  again  equalled. 

Important  as  this  mosaic  is  for  its  decorative  effect,  it  is  far 
surpassed  in  iconographical  interest  by  the  small  panels  next 


MOSAIC'S-    S.   Apolliimri'   Ximn, 


327 


the  roof  which  represent  scenes  from  the  life  of  Christ.  On 
the  left  hand  are  represented  the  miracles  and  the  parables  of 
Christ  in  thirteen  panels;  on  the  right,  thirteen  episodes  of 
his  Passion.  It  is  not  possible  to  describe  in  detail  this  impor- 
tant series;  a  bare  list  of  the  subjects  treated  is,  however,  not 
without  interest,  since  it  is  the  most  complete  illustration  of 
the  life  of   Christ  which  we  have  in  early  Christian  art:    1, 


Ravenna.    Sixth  century.     A  jirocession  of  female  martyrs,  led  by  the  three  Magi,  offer- 
infant  Christ  and  the  Virgin. 


the  healing  of  the  paralytic  (Matt.  ix.  2-7) ;  2,  the  healing  of 
one  possessed  (Luke  viii.  27-32);  3,  the  healing  of  the  paralytic 
of  Capernaum  (Mark  ii.  3-12) ;  4,  the  separation  of  the  sheep 
from  the  goats  (Matt.  xxvi.  33);  5,  the  widow's  mite  (Mark  xii. 
42)  ;  6,  the  Pharisee  and  the  publican  at  the  Temple  (Luke 
xviii.  10-14) ;  7,  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  (John  xi.  38—44) ; 
8,  Jesus  and  the  Samaritan  woman  (John  iv.  7)  ;  9,  the  woman 
with  the  issue  of  blood  (Matt.  ix.  20-22) ;  10,  the  healing  of 
two  blind  men  (Matt.  ix.  27-30) ;  11,  the  miraculous  draught 
of  fishes  (Luke  v.  6) ;  12,  the  multiplication  of  the  five  loaves 
and  the  two  fishes  (Matt.  xiv.  15-21) ;  13,  the  multiplication 
of  the  seven  loaves  and  the  few  fishes  (Matt.  xv.  32-38) ; 
14,  the  Last  Supper  (Matt.  xxvi.  20) ;  15,  Jesus  on  the  Mount  of 


328 


]'/<■/< tlilAL    MIT 


olives  (  Matt.  xxvi.  39);  L6,  the  kiss  of  .Indus  <  Matt.  xxvi.  49); 
17,  the  arrest  of  Jesus  I  Matt.  xxvi.  50) ;  L8,  Jesus  before  <  laia- 
phas  (Matt.  xxvi. 64);  L9,  the  prediction  of  Peter's  denial  (J\I ait. 
xxvi.  34);  20,  the  denial  of  Peter  (Matt.  xxvi.  69);  21,  Judas 
returning  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  (Matt,  xxvii.  3);  22,  Jesus 

before  Pilate  (Matt,  xxvii.  11); 

23,  the  way  to  Calvary  (Matt. 

xxvii.  32) ;  24,  the  women  at 

the  sepulchre  (Matt,  xxviii.  5)  ; 

25,  Jesus  appearing  to  the 
Apostles    (Matt,    xxviii.    17) : 

26,  Jesus  appearing  to  the  two 
disciples  on  the  road  to  Em- 
maus  (Luke  xxiv.  15). 

There  are  a  number  of  sub- 
jects in  this  list,  particularly 
in  the  latter  series,  which  here 
emerge  for  the  first  time  in 
Christian  art.  From  the  list 
itself  it  is  evident,  and  still 
more  from  the  mode  of  repre- 
sentation, that  the  interest  is 
purely  an  historical  and  di- 
dactic one ;  this  series  is  an 
example  of  the  "  Bible  of  the 
Poor,"  designed  to  instruct 
the  illiterate  in  the  principal 
facts  of  the  Gospel  history. 
"Whether  or  not  these  pictures 
were  copied  from  Biblical 
miniatures,  they  are  very  dif- 
ferent in  point  of  execution 
form  the  historical  series  in  S.  Maria  Maggiore ;  the  composi- 
tions are  better  adapted  to  the  mosaic  art;  even  though  the 
panels  are  of  smaller  dimensions  and  are  placed  at  a  greater 
distance  from  the  eye,  they  are  more  readily  intelligible ; 
the  figures  stand  out  in  statuesque  boldness,  and  the  details 
are  duly  subordinated.  Many  of  the  pictures,  especially  of 
the  first  series,  are  plainly  influenced  by  the  types  which  were 
current  in  Christian  sculpture.     A  single  disciple,  as  upon  the 


Fig.  140.  —  S.  Luke,  mosaic  in  S.  Vitale, 
Ravenna.     Sixth  century. 


MOSAICS— S.  Giovanni  in  Fonte  329 

sarcophagi,  usually  accompanies  Christ  in  the  scenes  which  rep- 
resent his  miracles.  This  is  not  a  representation  of  S.  Peter, 
nor  of  any  one  of  the  Apostles  who  were  most  constantly  in 
his  company,  but,  by  a  principle  which  was  well  recognized  in 
Classical  art,  the  single  figure  stands  syncretically  for  the  whole 
company  of  the  Apostles.  This  device  was  here  of  great  im- 
portance, for  it  enabled  the  artist  to  depict  the  scenes  with 
greater  clearness  and  simplicity,  and  to  represent  the  principal 
figures  distinctly  and  in  large  proportions.  The  fact  that  half 
the  subjects  here  refer  to  the  Lord's  Passion  cannot  be  taken 
to  prove,  a  greater  interest  in  this  theme,  but  they  show  that 
the  early  reluctance  to  represent  it  in  art  was  passing  away. 
Even  here,  however,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  subjects  which 
represent  our  Lord's  physical  agony  —  the  scourging,  the  scof- 
fing, the  crucifixion — are  not  depicted. 

Of  the  whole  decoration  of  the  church  nothing  is  so  thor- 
oughly classical  as  the  figures  of  prophets  and  Apostles 
between  the  windows.  We  could  wish  that  other  works  of 
Theodoric's  able  artists  were  preserved  to  us,  particularly 
those  which  once  adorned  his  palace.  The  palace  is  depicted 
in  one  of  the  mosaics  in  this  church  (Fig.  143)  ;  but  its  decora- 
tion of  marble  and  mosaic  was  carried  away  by  Charlemagne 
to  decorate  his  imperial  residence  at  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

MOSAICS    OF    THE    FIFTH    CENTURY    AT    RAYENNA 

A  great  number  of  churches  at  Ravenna  received  elaborate 
mosaic  decoration  during  the  Gothic  rule,  but  only  fragments 
have  been  preserved.  Pairly  complete  are  the  mosaics  of  the 
Arian  baptistery  (S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin),  but  they  are  nothing 
more  than  a  rude  imitation  of  the  magnificent  decoration  of  the 
Orthodox  baptistery  (S.  Giovanni  in  Fonte),  erected  in  the  early 
years  of  the  fifth  century  under  the  Empress  Galla  Placidia. 
In  this  beautiful  monument  the  marble  incrustations  of  the 
lower  walls  have  been  lost,  but  the  mosaics  are  fairly  well  pre- 
served ;  they  are  very  finely  designed,  and  they  have  a  special 
interest  in  the  fact  that  they  constitute  one  of  the  few  examples 
we  have  of  the  early  decoration  of  a  dome,  another  being 
S.  George  in  Thessalonica,  the  mosaics  of  which  (Fig.  144) 
have  been  ascribed  to  the  time  of  Justinian,  but  are  possi- 


830 


PICTORIAL    ART 


bly    much    later.      Above    the    first    order    of    arcades    are 

eight  admirable  figures  of  prophets;  they  arc  surrounded  by 
a  graceful  foliage  design,  and  with  their  shining  while  gar- 
ments they  stand  out  in  strong  contrast  against  the  dark 
blue  ground.  Similar  figures  in  stucco  appear  above  in  the 
niches  which  alternate  with  the  windows.  At  the  top  of  these 
niches  are  small  fields  of  mosaic  which  represent  a  variety 
of  subjects,  some  of  them  taken  from  the  earliest  cycle  of  the 
catacombs.  The  mosaics  of  the  dome  consist  of  two  concentric 
zones  surrounding  a  central  medallion.     The  first  zone  repeats 


Fig.  141.  —  The  Good  Shepherd,  mosaic  in  the  mausoleum  of  Galla  Placidia,   Ravenna. 

Fifth  century. 


four  times  the  same  theme  :  an  ornamental  arcade,  in  the  midst 
of  which  is  an  altar  supporting  an  open  Gospel,  and  on  each 
side  a  rich  throne.  Alternating  with  this  and  four  times  re- 
peated is  a  large  throne  in  a  niche.  The  second  and  broader 
zone  represents  the  Twelve  Apostles  marching  with  their  crowns 
in  their  hands.  The  central  medallion  contains  an  admirable 
representation  of  the  Baptism  of  Christ  in  the  Jordan. 

Another  monument  of  the  same  age  is  (Fig.  50)  the  mauso- 
leum of  Galla  Placidia  (SS.  jSTazario  e  Celso),  which  still  contains 
the  sarcophagus  of  that  empress,  as  well  as  that  of  Constan- 
tius  III.,  her  second  husband,  and  of  her  brother  Honorius. 
It  is  a  building  of  rude  construction,  but  on  account  of  the 
complete  preservation  of  its  mosaics  its  decorative  effect   is 


MOSAICS—   Tnmh    n/   OnUn    I'/ori,/;,, 


331 


very  rich,  and  it  gives  a  move  striking  impression  than  any 
other  ancient  monument  of  the  decorative  capacities  of  the 
mosaic  art.  The  decoration  is  simple  and  the  effect  is  due 
chiefly  to  the  richness  of  the  color ;  the  walls  are  covered  with 
plain  slabs  of  polished  marble  ;  the  mosaics  of  the  vault  are 
executed  in  a  purely  conventional  pattern ;  only  the  end  walls 
are  decorated  with  figured 
designs.  Figure  141  repre- 
sents the  Good  Shepherd  in 
the  midst  of  his  flock.  This 
theme  reminds  us  that  we 
have  here  again  a  case  of 
sepulchral  decoration ;  but 
how  different  it  is  from  the 
Good  Shepherd  of  the  cata- 
combs !  It  is  still  the  youth- 
ful, beardless  type  of  Christ 
which  is  here  represented; 
but  here  he  is  clothed  in 
imperial  purple,  his  head 
is  surrounded  by  the  nimbus, 
and  his  shepherd's  rod  is  the 
cross.  Opposite  this  is  a  rep- 
resentation of  S.  Lawrence: 
with  a  cross  upon  his 
shoulder  and  an  open  book 
in  his  hand  he  joyfully 
hastens  to  his  martyrdom, 
which  is  represented  by  a 
fiery  gridiron.  An  open  cup- 
board containing  books,  above 
which  one  can  read  the  names 
of  the  four  Gospels,  suggests  the  source  whence  he  derived 
his.  faith  and  his  courage. 

In  S.  Aritale  we  have  already  studied  the  chief  example  of 
the  mosaics  of  the  Exarchate  which  superseded  the  Gothic 
kingdom.  The  last  mosaics  of  Ravenna  were  those  of  S.  Apol- 
linare  in  Classe,  which  were  begun  in  the  sixth  century,  but 
not  finished  until  the  latter  part  of  the  seventh.  This  was  an 
age  of  full  decadence,  and  it  lies  beyond  the  limits  which  we 


Fig.  142. — S.  Ursicinus,  bishop  of  Ravenna, 
mosaic  in  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe.  Sixth 
century. 


332 


PICTORIAL  AliT 


have  set  for  our  study.  The  apsidal  mosaics  repeat  the  Apoca- 
lyptic themes  with  which  we  have  become  familiar,  but  with 
variations  which  prove  a  decadence  in  thoughl  as  well  as  in 


Fig.  143.  —  Palace  of  Theodoric,  mosaic  in  S.  Apollinare  Nuovo,  Ravenna.     Sixth  century. 


Fro.  144.  — Mosaic  in  8.  Geonre.  Thessalnnica.  An  altar  and  ciborium,  with  curtain 
drawn  ;  before  it,  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  stand  a  man  and  a  woman  clad  In  the 
psenula. 


MINIATURES  333 

skill.  The  most  interesting  feature  of  the  decoration  of  this 
church  is  the  series  of  medallion  portraits  of  the  bishops  of 
Ravenna,  which  are  arranged  in  long  line  above  the  colonnade. 
They  are  an  imitation  of  the  portraits  of  the  popes  at  S.  Paul's 
at  Home.  Figure  1-12  represents  one  of  the  bishops  which  are 
depicted  between  the  windows  of  the  apsidal  wall.  This,  like 
the  seventh-century  mosaic  in  the  Lateran  baptistery  (Fig. 
181),  is  illustrated  here  more  expressly  as  an  example  of  the 
costume  of  the  period. 

D.    MINIATURES 

It  is  only  quite  lately  that  the  subject  of  early  Biblical  min- 
iatures has  received  serious  attention,  and  there  is  yet  a  good 


* 


Fig.  145.  — Miniature  from  the  Joshua  Eoll  of  the  Vatican.     Fifth  century.    Joshua  and 

ambassadors  of  Gibeon,  in  two  scenes. 

deal  of  difference  of  opinion  about  the  date  and  origin  of  the 
earliest  illustrated  manuscripts.  The  art  of  miniature  illustra- 
tion was  practised  before  the  Christian  era,  and  even  after 
the  fourth  century  it  continued  to  be  employed  for  Classical 
authors  as  well  as  for  the  Bible  and  ecclesiastical  books.  In 
a  sense  it  may  be  called,  however,  a  Christian  art,  for  it  first 
came  into  general  use  in  the  fourth  century  as  applied  to  the 
Bible.  The  substitution  of  the  codex  for  the  roll  was  largely 
due  to  the  use  of  the  Christian  Scriptures  as  books  of  reference, 
and  this  change  in  itself  must  have  served  to  encourage,  or  at 
least  facilitate,  the  illustration  of  manuscripts.  The  develop- 
ment of  this  art  was,  however,  more  positively  due  to  the 
growing  interest  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Biblical  text.  It 
is  not  likely  that  in  the  early  period  the  whole  Bible  was  ever 


884 


VICTORIA!.    ART 


illustrated;  at  all  events  we  have  examples  only  of  particular 
sections  of  the  Scriptures,  as,  for  instance,  the  Pentateuch  and 
the  Gospels. 

The  ar1  of  Biblical  miniature  painting  has  a  history  of  a  thou- 
sand years,  and  in  all  of  that  long  period  it  suffered  less  change 
than  any  other  art.  Nevertheless,  the  early  miniature  paint- 
ing was  distinguished  in  many  ways  from  that  which  prevailed 
during  the  Middle  Ages.  The  aim  of  the  latter  was  chiefly 
decorative,  and  it  was  closely  incorporated  with  the  text ;  the 


Fig.  146.  —  Miniature  from  the  Joshua  lioll  of  the  Vatican.    Fifth  century. 

men  of  Ai. 


Joshua  and  the 


illustrations  were  incidental  to  the  embellishment  of  a  title- 
page,  of  an  initial  letter,  or  of  the  margin.  Of  the  early  illus- 
trated manuscripts  none  so  closely  approaches  this  mode  of 
treatment  as  the  Gospel  codex  executed  by  a  Syrian  monk, 
Rabulas,  in  the  sixth  century.  In  particular,  the  architectural 
decoration  which  frames  the  Eusebian  Canons,  which  are  incor- 
porated in  this  codex,  seems  to  be  the  model  of  many  of  the 
decorative  manuscripts  of  the  Middle  Ages.  There  is,  in  fact, 
good  reason  to  suppose  that  the  manuscripts  which  were  copied 
and  illuminated  in  the  schools  of  Charlemagne,  and  which  set 
the  fashion  for  all  later  work,  were  directly  derived  from 
Syrian  originals. 


MINIATURES  335 

In  general,  however,  the  early  miniatures  were  separated 
from  the  text,  although  they  constituted  a  continuous  comment 
upon  it.  Their  aim  was  strictly  illustrative,  and  it  is  worthy 
of  remark  that,  notwithstanding  the  prevalence  of  allegorical 
interpretation,  the  pictorial  illustrations  of  the  Bible  clung 
closely  to  the  natural  and  historical  sense  of  the  story. 

The  determination  of  the  date  of  the  early  miniatures  is 
embarrassed  by  the  fact  that  they  were  more  readily,  and  in 
fact  more  frequently,  copied  than  any  other  class  of  early 
monuments.  We  have,  for  example,  in  Fig.  148  an  illustra- 
tion from  a  Greek  psalter  in  Paris  which  is  proved  by  the  text 
to  belong  to  the  eleventh  century,  while  the  miniatures  are 
strikingly  Classical  in  style,  and  are  doubtless  accurately 
copied  from  originals  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  century.  The 
illustration  here  given  represents  in  idyllic  fashion  the  royal 
shepherd  and  psalmist,  David.  At  his  side  is  a  female  figure 
personifying  "  Harmony  "  ;  below  is  represented  "  Mount  Beth- 
lehem" under  the  figure  of  an  aged  man.  Such  allegorical 
personifications  were  common  in  Classical  art,  but  still  more 
frequently  employed  in  Byzantine,  and  they  may  be  taken, 
perhaps,  to  indicate  a  Byzantine  origin  for  these  miniatures. 

The  Vienna  Genesis  and  the  Joshua  Boll  of  the  Vatican  may 
be  taken  to  represent  the  earliest  type  of  Biblical  miniatures. 
The  first  belongs  to  the  fourth  or  fifth  century,  the  latter  prob- 
ably to  the  fifth.  But  even  if  their  date  were  placed  lower, 
their  importance  would  remain  substantially  the  same,  and 
they  could  only  be  understood  as  copies  of  a  manuscript  of 
very  early  date. 

The  Joshua  manuscript  is  the  only  instance  we  have  of  an 
illustrated  roll ;  the  form  serves  to  explain  the  close  relation 
of  the  illustrations  to  the  text,  particularly  the  fact  that  they 
constitute  a  running  accompaniment  of  the  narrative  and 
reflect  its  most  minute  incidents.  The  roll  contains  twenty- 
three  illustrations ;  one  cannot  say  separate  illustrations,  for 
they  are  not  framed  apart,  but  are  so  closely  continuous  that 
they  constitute,  as  it  were,  a  moving  picture.  For  example, 
in  Fig.  145  we  have  the  story  of  Joshua's  dealings  with  the 
men  of  Gibeon  (Josh.  ix.  3-27).  Above  at  the  left  are  the 
fraudulent  ambassadors  starting  out  with  their  old  sacks  and 
rent  wine-skins    and   battered    raiment,  as  though   they  had 


::::r. 


PICTORIAL  ART 


journeyed  from  a  far  country  (vv.  3-5).  Below  they  are  pre- 
senting themselves  to  Joshua  and  the  men  of  Israel  (vv.  5-15); 
the  city  of  Gibeon  is  personiiied  above  by  the  reclining  figure 
with  the  horn  of  plenty.  Between  this  and  the  next  scene 
there  is  an  interval  of  three  days ;  Joshua,  and  the  host  have 
already  reached  the  city  of  Gibeon  (which  appears  on  the 
right),  and  discovered  the  fraud  of  the  ambassadors;  he  calls 
them  before  him  and  decrees  the  perpetual  servitude  of  the 


The  diverse  fortune  of  Pharaoh's  butler  and  baker. 

Fig.  147.  —  Miniatures  from  the  Vienna 


Gibeonites  to  the  Children  of  Israel  (vv.  16-27).  Figure 
146  represents  the  return  of  Joshua's  messengers  from  Ai 
(Josh.  vii.  3). 

The  illustration  of  a  codex  was  manifestly  more  convenient ; 
the  miniatures  might  occupy  a  whole  page,  or  be  placed  below 
the  text,  but  in  any  case  they  constituted  each  of  them  a  dis- 
tinct and  separate  subject,  and  the  artist  was  at  liberty  to 
select  from  the  narrative  such  themes  as  pleased  his  fancy  or 
suited  his  talent. 

The  mosaics  illustrating  Genesis  and  Joshua  in  S.  Maria 
Maggiore  remind  one  of  the  Joshua  Eoll,  but  they  are  distin- 


MINIATURES 


337 


guished  from  it  by  the  fact  that  they  are  framed  in  separate 
panels  and  each  scene  developed  for  itself.  They  follow  the 
incidents  of  the  narrative  as  closely  and  as  undiscriminatingly 
as  the  Joshua  Roll,  but  they  could  only  have  been  copied  from 
the  miniatures  of  a  coclex. 

The  Vienna  Genesis  is  an  example  of  an  illustrated  codex 
which  shows  a  characteristic  selection  on  the  part  of  the  artist. 
It  contains  forty-eight  pictures  upon  twenty-six  leaves,  and  the 
artist  has  selected  pleasing  and  idyllic  themes  to  the  exclusion 


Eebecca  at  the  well  —  the  well  personified  in  Classic  fashion  b);  a  female  figure. 
Genesis.     Fourth  or  fifth  century. 


of  all  scenes  of  stir  and  strife.  The  traditions  of  Classic  art 
are  especially  marked  in  this  work,  as  one  may  see  from  the 
two  illustrations  which  are  here  given  (Fig.  147).  The  first 
represents  the  contrasted  fates  of  Pharaoh's  butler  and  baker 
(Gen.  xl.  20-22)  :  the  monarch  reclines  at  table  in  the  place 
of  honor  with  three  members  of  his  court ;  behind  stands 
an  officer,  while  in  front  musicians  are  playing,  and  the  fortu- 
nate butler,  restored  to  favor,  approaches  to  serve  him.  Out- 
side, in  fulfilment  of  Joseph's  prediction,  the  baker  is  handed 
upon  a  tree  and  the  birds  devour  his  flesh.  The  second  illus- 
tration represents  the  meeting  of  Rebecca  and  Eliezer  at  the 


388 


PICTORIAL   ART 


well  (Gen.  xxiv.  LO-18).  The  well  is  personified  by  the  half- 
naked  woman  with  a  water  jar.  A  colonnaded  walk  extends 
from  the  city  of  Nahor  to  the  well,  and  along  it  Rebecca  is 


Fig.  14n.  —  David  playing  the  harp  ;  from  a  Greek  Psalter  in  Paris.    Eleventh  century  copy 
of  fourth  century  original. 

approaching ;  in  the  next  moment  she  is  offering  water  from 
her  jar  to  Eliezer. 

If  the  art  of  miniature  influenced  the  early  mosaics,  it  was  no 
less  influenced  in  turn  by  them,  and  this  influence  became  more 
and  more  marked  after  the  sixth  century.  It  is  perhaps  to  be 
traced  in  the  Eabulas  Codex  above  mentioned.  It  is  very 
clearly  marked  in  the  Codex  Eossanensis  of  the  sixth  century. 


MINIATURES  339 

It  is  especially  observable  in  the  forty  figures  of  prophets 
which  adorn  this  codex;  and  in  the  eighteen  pictures  from  the 
New  Testament  it  appears,  not  only  in  a  certain  simplicity  of 
treatment  which  belongs  to  the  mosaic  art,  but  in  the  lofty 
idealistic  conception  of  Christ.  The  influence  of  the  mosaics 
is  even  more  clear  in  the  strange  work  called  The  Christian 
Topography  of  Cosmas  Indikopleustes  (Indian  traveller).  The 
author  had  made  journeys  as  a  merchant  to  distant  parts  of  the 
earth,  and  he  composed  his  book  as  a  monk  in  one  of  the  mon- 
asteries on  Sinai  in  the  year  547.  It  is  an  attempt  to  derive 
from  Biblical  sources  a  Christian  physical  geography,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  Ptolemaic  system.  Its  Biblical  illustrations  are 
introduced  in  a  purely  allegorical  interest;  they  are  represen- 
tations of  patriarchs,  kings,  and  prophets,  regarded  as  types  of 
Christ.     It  is  a  production  of  high  artistic  worth. 

The  Cotton  Bible  in  the  British  Museum  is  to  be  compared 
with  the  Vienna  Genesis,  but  it  appears  to  be  of  very  much 
later  date.  A  certain  rudeness  of  execution  suggests  barbarian 
influence,  and  though  doubtless  copied  from  older  patterns,  it 
is  probably  not  earlier  than  the  sixth  century.  From  the  Cotton 
Bible,  or  its  original,  were  copied  many  of  the  mosaics  in  S. 
Mark's  at  Venice.  The  Cambridge  Evangeliar  belongs,  per- 
haps, to  the  same  century,  but  it  stands  in  closer  relation  to 
the  art  of  the  Middle  Ages. 


THE  MINOR  ARTS 

The  pictorial  element  of  art  has  been  already  expressly  stud- 
ied in  the  last  chapter ;  but  it  still  remains  for  us  to  consider 
the  purely  decorative  element,  and  in  some  measure  to  study 
over  again  pictorial  art  in  its  decorative  aspect. 

It  is  not  art  in  its  highest  phases,  but  art  in  its  merely  deco- 
rative uses  —  in  the  production  of  dress,  utensils,  furniture,  in 
short,  the  whole  paraphernalia  of  public  and  private  life  — 
which  represents  in  the  most  vivid  and  intimate  terms  the 
civilization  of  a  people  or  of  an  epoch.  It  is  not  the  rare 
artistic  genius,  but  the  common  artistic  taste,  which  reveals  the 
tone  of  any  civilization.  To  realize  the  character  of  Christian 
civilization  in  the  Classic  period,  one  must  piece  together  innu- 
merable minute  studies  of  the  common  articles  of  use  and 
luxury  which  gave  color  to  public  and  private  life.  This  con- 
stitutes at  once  the  most  interesting  and  the  most  difficult  labor 
of  archaeology,  for  it  supposes  not  only  the  summing  up  of  the 
great  mass  of  archaeological  results,  but  a  rare  imaginative  con- 
struction of  them. 

Such  a  task  is  by  no  means  to  be  undertaken  here :  to  speak 
of  "the  Christian  civilization  within  the  Classical  period"  is  to 
imply  that  in  all  material  aspects  the  Christian  civilization  was 
identical  with  the  Classical,  and  the  portrayal  of  the  familiar 
aspects  of  home  and  public  life  must  be  frankly  left  to  Classi- 
cal archaeology.  The  patrician  house  of  the  martyrs  John  and 
Paul  on  the  Caelian  hill  proves  how  thoroughly  the  Christian 
life  of  the  fourth  century  was  expressed  in  the  terms  of  the 
Classical  culture.  The  decoration  of  the  house  was  in  the 
main  just  what  one  might  expect  to  find  in  the  home  of  a 
pagan;  even  the  decoration  which  was  borrowed  from  Chris- 
tian cemeterial  art  was  employed  in  a  purely  Classical  fashion. 

In  the  following  centuries  there  was  a  marked   decline  in 

340 


WTRODUCTlnV  ::il 

Classical  taste  and  in  the  means  of  gratifying  it ;  the  unbri- 
dled gorgeousness  of  Oriental  decoration  influenced  most  of  the 
decorative  arts,  even  in  Rome  and  the  Western  provinces,  and 
supplanted  the  Greek  ideals  of  simplicity,  measure,  and  refine- 
ment of  form  and  color. 

As  was  to  be  expected  in  the  general  decline  of  the  arts, 
hardly  any  new  technical  process  marks  the  development  of 
Christian  civilization,  —  except  in  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and 
during  a  period  which  is  excluded  from  the  scope  of  this  hand- 
book. The  textile  industry  constitutes  a  marked  exception,  and 
it  is  consequently  treated  somewhat  at  length  at  the  end  of  this 
chapter,  while  a  whole  chapter  is  devoted  to  Christian  dress. 

An  industry  of  minor  importance  is  that  which  is  repre- 
sented by  the  gold-glass,  a  technic  which  produced  figured 
designs  upon  glass  by  means  of  gold-leaf.  As  this  seems  to 
have  been  almost  exclusively  a  Christian  product,  it  may  be 
reckoned  especially  to  our  province. 

For  the  rest,  it  must  suffice  here  to  mention  objects  which 
are  distinctly  ecclesiastical,  or  at  least  distinctly  religious,  in 
use  or  decoration.  The  character  and  costliness  of  church 
decoration  is  highly  significant  of  the  Christian  reverence  for 
the  house  of  worship.  The  particular  items  of  church  furni- 
ture illustrate  various  liturgical  practices,  and  they  commonly 
serve  to  explain  the  development  of  our  modern  ecclesiastical 
utensils  and  adornment.  In  the  chapter  on  Architecture  we 
have  already  considered  the  stationary  and  strictly  architec- 
tural elements  of  church  furniture.  We  have  now  to  speak, 
not  of  the  altar,  but  of  the  embroidered  altar  cloths  and  of  the 
Eucharistic  vessels ;  not  of  the  cathedra,  the  chancels,  and  the 
ciborium,  but  of  the  hangings  which  decorated  them,  or  served 
to  mark  more  distinctly  the  divisions  of  the  church;  of  the 
lamps  which  illuminated  the  edifice,  of  the  crowns  and  other 
votive  offerings  which  embellished  it,  and,  in  the  last  place,  of 
the  ecclesiastical  vestments. 

Here  more  than  in  any  other  part  of  our  study  we  are  left 
to  the  testimony  of  literary  sources.  It  is  but  natural  that 
very  few  such  monuments  have  survived ;  the  textiles  were  in 
themselves  perishable,  and  works  of  art  in  gold  and  silver 
were  a  standing  temptation  to  the  cupidity  of  plunderers,  or 
to  the  exigencies  of  the  owners.     Enough,  however,  has  been 


.'342  MINOR   ARTS 

left  to  furnish  helpful  analogies  for  the  reconstruction  of  the 
various  articles  of  church  furniture  which  are  mentioned  in 
the  texts.  Reconstructions  have  often  been  attempted  of  the 
winks  of  art  which  arc  dryly  enumerated  by  the  Roman 
Liber  Pontificcdis,  or  described  with  poetic  fervor  by  Paul  in  us 
of  Nola  and  Procopius.  The  drawings  published  by  de  Fleury 
in  La  Messe  may  be  mentioned  as  especially  successful. 

Truly  astonishing  are  the  accounts  of  the  rich  gifts  pre- 
sented by  emperors  and  popes  to  the  great  basilicas  of  Rome, 
of  Constantinople,  and  of  the  Holy  Land.  Such  accounts  have 
met  with  no  little  scepticism ;  but  the  sources  are  reliable, 
and  a  just  appreciation  of  the  wealth  which  was  concentrated 
at  Rome  during  the  Empire  suffices  to  render  them  credible. 
Notwithstanding  the  partition  of  the  Empire  and  the  terrible 
calamities  which  overtook  the  Eternal  City,  it  remains  in  some 
sort  a  mystery  how  that  great  hoard  of  gold  and  silver  was 
finally  dispersed  and  actually  lost  to  Europe.  Now  that  it  is 
gone,  there  remains  nothing  which  brings  home  to  us  so 
vividly  the  wealth  of  Imperial  Rome  as  the  countless  store  of 
precious  marbles,  fetched  from  every  corner  of  the  earth,  and 
found  to-day,  not  only  amid  the  ruins  of  public  buildings,  but 
strewn  over  the  whole  Campagna,  and  wherever  a  Roman 
nobleman  had  his  seat.  The  monuments  not  only  substantiate 
the  literary  picture  of  the  luxury  of  the  Empire,  but  they 
prove  that  the  wealth  was  not  concentrated  solely  in  the 
hands  of  the  state  or  of  the  emperor.  This  distribution  of 
imperial  wealth  in  private  holdings  constituted  a  reservoir 
which  could  not  suddenly  be  exhausted.  Rome  still  remained 
rich  after  the  seat  of  Empire  was  transferred  to  the  East ; 
time  after  time  she  paid  her  ransom  in  gold  and  silver ;  until 
the  Middle  Ages  there  appeared  always  to  be  enough  gold 
to  replace,  after  pillage,  the  decoration  of  the  tombs  of  the 
Apostles,  and  the  furniture  of  the  churches.  In  Rome  it  was 
the  cathedral  of  the  bishop  (the  Lateran),  and  the  memorial 
basilicas  of  the  two  Apostles,  which  were  the  recipients  of  the 
most  costly  donations.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
churches  and  the  church  ceremonies  replaced  the  temples  and 
the  civic  pomps  upon  which  Rome  had  been  accustomed  to 
lavish  treasure.  The  ascetic  trend  which  was  so  strong  in  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries  was   influential  in  simplifying   the 


EUCHARISTIC   VESSELS  343 

private  lives  of  many  wealthy  Christians,  but  it  evidently  had 
little  or  no  tendency  to  check  the  lavish  decoration  of  the 
house  of  God.  In  Constantinople  and  Ravenna  the  building 
and  decoration  of  churches,  like  the  management  of  church 
iffairs,  constituted  one  of  the  absorbing  interests  of  the  civil 
ilers.  In  the  Holy  Land  the  pious  example  of  Constantine 
id  Helena  was  followed  by  other  emperors,  notably  by  Jus- 
unian.  Other  churches,  the  objects  of  civil  or  provincial 
pride,  must  have  vied  with  these  imperial  foundations;  and 
the  lesser  churches,  in  proportion  to  their  means,  with  a  less 
perfect  art  and  less  noble  materials,  must  have  followed  the 
lead  and  fashion  of  the  greater. 

EUCHARISTIO    VESSELS 

Thoroughly  in  accord  with  the  simplicity  of  our  Lord's 
institution,  the  simplest  vessels,  the  commonest  cup  and  dish, 
were  deemed  sufficient  for  the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist. 
Vessels  of  glass,  of  the  baser  metals,  or  even  of  wood,  were,  in 
fact,  used  by  poor  churches  till  late  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Figure  75  represents  the  Eucharistic  bread  in  a  basket  and 
the  Eucharistic  wine  in  a  cup  of  glass.  The  basket  is  here 
symbolical,  it  represents  Christ's  miraculous  multiplication  of 
the  loaves ;  but  it  seems  to  have  been  put  occasionally  to  the 
use  which  is  here  illustrated.  S.  Jerome  says,  "No  one  is  so 
rich  as  he  who  carries  the  body  of  Christ  in  a  basket  of  osiers 
and  his  blood  in  a  cup  of  glass."  At  the  same  time  these  words 
imply  that  vessels  of  so  mean  a  character  were  not  the  rule. 
It  was  natural  that  simplicity  should  not  be  scorned,  but  it 
was  equally  natural  that  Christians  should  express  their  sense 
of  the  dignity  of  the  sacrament  by  providing  worthier  vessels 
according  to  their  means ;  and  the  provision  of  gold  and  silver 
vessels  must  have  been  easier  for  the  Church  in  the  early 
period  (notwithstanding  persecution)  than  it  came  to  be  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  Golden  chalices  and  patens  (sometimes 
adorned  with  gems)  are,  in  fact,  mentioned  very  early.  Glass, 
however,  seems  to  have  been  in  very  common  use  in  the  early 
period  for  the  paten  as  well  as  the  chalice ;  the  fine  effect  and 
great  popularity  of  gold  leaf  decoration  upon  glass  doubtless 
encouraged  the  use  of  this  material. 


344  MINOB   ARTS 

The  earliest  chalice  represented  in  Christian  art  is  the  simple 
two-handled  mug  which  is  dimly  to  be  descried  in  Fig.  74. 
It  appears  to  have  been  a  very  common  vessel  indeed,  but  in 
shape  it  was  thoroughly  practical.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
vessel  which  appears  upon  the  altar  in  two  mosaics  of  Ravenna 
i  Figs.  L31,  L32)  is  purely  ornamental,  and  seems  to  meet  none 
of  the  requirements  of  practical  use,  though  it  was  this  form 
of  vase — the  Classical  cantharus  —  which  figured  commonly, 
indeed  almost  invariably,  as  the  symbol  of  the  Eucharist. 
Such  a  vase  appears  very  frequently  in  Christian  art,  espe- 
cially in  the  low  reliefs  in  stone  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth 
century,  and  in  tapestry  designs  of  the  same  period.  Its  sym- 
bolic significance  is  plainly  marked  by  the  vine  which  springs 
out  of  it,  by  the  twTo  harts  which  approach  it  on  either  side 
panting  to  quench  their  thirst  with  the  water  of  life,  and  by  the 
peacocks  which  symbolize  its  potency  for  immortality.  It  has 
accordingly  been  supposed  —  notwithstanding  the  difficulty  of 
drinking  out  of  such  a  vase  —  that  this  was  the  common  shape 
of  the  Eucharistic  chalice  during  the  early  period.  The  can- 
tharus may  very  well  have  constituted  a  part  of  the  altar 
furniture ;  either  as  a  crater  for  mixing  the  wine  and  water,  or 
as  a  pitcher  for  the  reception  of  the  whole  of  the  consecrated 
wine,  symbolizing  the  unity  of  the  cup  even  when  the  wine 
was  administered  in  several  chalices.  There  is  good  reason, 
however,  to  doubt  that  it  was  ever  used  directly  in  administer- 
ing the  wine  to  the  people ;  and  its  frequent  employment  as 
a  symbol  seems  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  it  was  a  con- 
ventional decorative  motive  which  the  Church  borrowed  from 
ancient  art  and  to  which  it  attached  its  own  meaning.  The 
representations  in  which  this  vase  figures  in  Christian  art  are 
plainly  fashioned  after  an  ancient  Oriental  design  which  was 
current  in  Classical  times.  This  design  originally  represented 
the  sacred  Assyrian  tree  and  its  animal  guardians  ;  in  Christian 
art  the  symbolic  vine  was  substituted  for  the  Assyrian  Tree  of 
Life,  the  vase  in  which  it  grew  was  elevated  to  the  chief 
motive,  and  instead  of  the  griffins,  the  panthers  or  the  lions 
which  guarded  it,  the  gentler  animals,  representing  the  Chris- 
tian disciples,  approached  it  to  drink.  The  popularity  of  this 
design  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  a  common  pattern  of  tex- 
tile stuffs  (which  were  always  inspired  by  the  East),  and  that 


EUCHARISTIC   VESSELS  846 

the  textile  embroideries  afforded  the  only  models  which  were 
generally  available  for  decorative  art  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  ornamental  cantharns  was  therefore  a  tra- 
ditional motive  which  was  simply  left  unaltered  in  Christian 
art. 

At  all  events,  the  earliest  chalices  which  have  survived  were 
substantially  of  the  same  form  as  our  own,  to  which  also  the  ear- 
liest realistic  representations  in  pictorial  art  agree.  In  general 
terms,  it  was  a  bowl  supported  by  a  slender  stem  upon  a  flat 
base.  The  most  notable  point  of  difference  from  the  modern 
chalice  was  its  greater  size.  Both  size  and  shape  may  be  seen 
in  the  mosaic  (Fig.  135)  which  represents  the  Empress  Theo- 
dora bearing  a  votive  chalice  adorned  with  pearls  and  other 
stones,  to  the  church  of  S.  Vitale.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  this 
mosaic  is  of  the  same  date  as  those  which  represent  the  can- 
tharus  upon  the  altar.  The  parallel  mosaic  (Fig.  134)  repre- 
sents Justinian  carrying  the  votive  paten.  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  ancient  paten  was  much  larger  than  the  type  to  which  we 
are  now  accustomed.  All  of  the  Eucharistic  vessels  had  to  be 
of  a  considerable  size,  for  throughout  the  early  Christian  period 
it  was  customary  for  all  the  Christians  who  were  present  to  com- 
mune, and  it  is  evident,  too,  that  the  consumption  was  greater 
than  at  present.  The  paten  here  represented  is  a  great  flat 
bowl,  and  this  shape  appears  to  have  been  universal  till  late  in 
the  Middle  Ages. 

In  Fig.  74  there  is  no  paten  represented,  unless  it  be  by  the 
plate  upon  which  the  fish  lies.  In  that  picture  the  bishop  is 
depicted  in  the  act  of  breaking,  with  some  effort,  a  large 
flat  loaf.  The  size  and  character  of  the  bread  used  in  early 
times  was  various.  It  may  be  that  the  large  flat  loaf  was  always 
in  use  in  the  East  as  it  is  to-day.  Small  loaves,  such  as  are 
represented  in  Fig.  75,  appear  invariably  in  the  representations 
of  Christ's  miracle.  They  commonly  appear  (as  in  Fig.  101) 
marked  with  the  cross,  and  just  such  little  Eucharistic  breads 
are  represented  —  in  graffito  or  in  relief  —  upon  several  tomb- 
stones in  the  catacombs  (Fig.  8).  These  small  rolls  were 
apparently  the  commonest  form  for  Eucharistic  breads  during 
the  first  four  centuries  in  Rome.  They  were  not  unlike  our 
ordinary  breakfast  rolls ;  it  was  in  fact  just  such  bread  as  the 
Romans  commonly  used,  and  the  cross  was  merely  the  acci- 


346 


MINOR   ARTS 


dentaJ  result  of  folding  up  the  corners  to  make  it  round. 
Though  this  cross  was  not  confined  to  Eucharistic  use,  it  was 
undoubtedly  regarded  as  symbolical   by    the  Christians,  and 

probably  suggested  the  custom  of  stamping  the  Eucharistic 
loaf  expressly  with  numerous  crosses  and  with  various  sym- 
bolical devices,  —  a  custom  which  prevailed,  at  least  in  the 
East,  as  early  as  the  sixth  century.  The  loaves  which  are 
represented  in  Fig.  133  appear  to  be  intentionally  marked  with 
the  cross ;  those  of  Figs.  131, 132,  are  of  a  very  elaborate  pattern. 


Fig.  149.  —  Censers  of  fifth  and  sixth  centuries. 


The  size  of  both  paten  and  chalice  may  be  roughly  estimated 
from  the  weight,  which  the  Liber  Pontificalis  is  always  more 
careful  to  give  than  it  is  to  describe  the  artistic  execution.  For 
example,  among  the  gifts  which  Constantine  presented  to  the 
Lateran,  there  were,  according  to  this  text,  "  7  patens  of  gold 
weighing  each  30  pounds  ;  16  patens  of  silver  weighing  each 
30  pounds."  Of  the  chalices,  the  text  distinguishes  "  40  minor 
chalices  of  purest  gold  weighing  each  1  pound,"  from  "50 
minor  ministerial  chalices  weighing  each  2  pounds,"  without 
mentioning  any  greater  chalices.  The  chalices  given  to  S. 
Peter  were,  however,  of  greater  size  and  value.  There  were  "3 
golden  chalices  with  emeralds  and  jacinths,  each  having  45 


LAMPS  Ul 

gems  and  weighing  12  pounds."  There  were,  besides,  "20  sil- 
ver chalices  each  weighing  10  pounds."  1  n  this  case  the  paten, 
too,  was  more  costly:  "a  golden  paten  with  a  tower  (!),  of 
purest  gold,  with  a  dove,  adorned  with  emeralds,  and  jacinths, 
and  215  pearls,  weighing  30  pounds ;  5  patens  of  silver  weigh- 
ing each  15  pounds."  This  must  suffice  by  way  of  example ;  the 
use  of  jewelled  chalices  was  by  no  means  confined  to  imperial 
foundations,  nor  even  to  metropolitan  churches.  Patens  were 
used  also  to  hold  consecrated  oil,  for  Constantine  presented  to 
the  church  at  Ostia  a  single  patenam  argenteam  chrismalem 
weighing  ten  pounds.  They  probably  served  also  to  receive  the 
donations  of  the  people  on  the  tables  of  prothesis.  The  men- 
tion of  the  golden  patens  presented  to  the  Lateran  follows 
immediately  upon  the  mention  of  the  seven  silver  altars  of  pro- 
thesis,  and  the  same  number  is  probably  to  be  understood  in 
the  case  of  the  patens.  At  all  events,  there  were  seven  golden 
scyphoi  (broad-mouthed  mixing  vessels)  each  weighing  ten 
pounds,  which  could  only  have  served  for  the  reception  of  the 
wine  (and  oil)  offered  by  the  people.  The  scyp>luis  seems  to 
have  been  a  necessary  element  of  the  church  furniture;  there 
were  also  in  the  Lateran  twenty  silver  scyphoi  of  fifteen  pounds 
each.  There  is  mentioned  "  a  single  scyphus  of  coral,  adorned 
on  all  sides  with  gems  and  lined  with  gold."  This  weighed 
twenty  pounds  and  three  ounces,  was  probably  shaped  like  the 
cantharus  of  Figs.  131,  132,  and  was  designed  for  the  great 
altar,  to  hold  the  Eucharistic  wine  which  was  poured  thence 
into  the  "  calices  ministeriales."  The  ama  (or  amula),  a  narrow- 
necked  pitcher,  was  equally  indispensable,  and  must  have  served 
to  hold  the  wine  and  the  water  which  were  to  be  mixed  at  the 
Eucharist,  perhaps  also  for  the  water  with  which  the  priest 
washed  his  hands.  In  the  Lateran  there  were  "  2  amas  of  pur- 
est gold,  weighing  each  50  pounds  and  holding  3  medemni" 
(about  35  gallons);  and  "20  silver  amas,  each  weighing  10 
pounds  and  holding  a  single  medemmts  "  (about  11^  gallons). 

LAMPS 

No  class  of  Christian  antiquities  is  represented  by  such  an 
abundance  of  examples  as  the  cheap  clay  lamps  ornamented 
with  the  Constantinian  monogram,  or  by  some  distinctively 


348 


MINOR   ARTS 


Christian  symbol  or  scene.  The  ordinary  shape  of  the  clay 
lamp  is  shown  in  Figs.  L50,  L51.  It  was  simply  the  common 
Classical  lamp,  and  it  is  distinguished  as  Christian  solely  by 
the  themes  which  decorate  it;  the  great  majority  of  the  lamps 
found  in  the  catacombs  are  distinguished  by  no  such  mark. 
They  were  objects  of  the  meanest  value  and  consequently  pro- 
duced in  the  greatest  abundance;  the  stamped  designs  which 
decorated  them  hardly  added  to  their  expense.  Their  preserva- 
tion in  such  number  is  therefore  readily  accounted  for,  given  a 


Fig.  150.  —  Terra-cotta  lamps  with  Christian  symbols. 


material  which  was  at  once  valueless  and  incorruptible.  Their 
chief  interest  lies  in  the  ocular  proof  which  they  furnish  of  the 
prevalent  custom  of  ornamenting  the  commonest  household 
utensils  with  Christian  devices.  Ornamental  boxes,  which  from 
the  religious  character  of  their  decoration  have  been  supposed 
to  be  intended  for  the  reservation  of  the  host  or  for  the  con- 
servation of  relics,  are  quite  as  likely  intended  for  a  lady's 
jewels  or  some  other  domestic  use.  It  is  recognized  that  scrip- 
tural scenes  embroidered  upon  garments  do  not  prove  a  sacred 
use.  One  of  the  wine  jars  found  in  the  cellar  of  the  house  of 
SS.  John  and  Paul  on  the  Caelian  is  marked  by  the  Christian 
manufacturer   with    the   Constantinian    monogram.      This   is 


LAMPS 


349 


merely  by  way  of  example,  to  draw  attention  to  a  marked  1  rait 
of  early  Christian  life;  people  did  not  show  shyness  about 
their  religion.  Christian  devices  do  not,  however,  appear  upon 
clay  lamps  till  near  the  end  of  the  third  century,  and  then  but 
rarely.  They  are  most  common  in  the  fifth.  But  even  after  the 
peace  of  the  Church  the  great  majority  of  the  lamps  used  by 
Christians  were  still  deco- 
rated with  subjects  which 
had  no  religious  signifi- 
cance, taken  from  common 
life,  or  even  from  pagan 
myths. 

Much  more  rare,  but  at 
the  same  time  more  inter- 
esting, are  the  bronze 
lamps  of  Christian  origin. 
The  forms  which  they 
assumed  are  meagrely  il- 
lustrated by  Figs.  152, 
153,  and  154.  It  is  to  be 
presumed  that  lamps  of 
this  sort  were  for  the 
most  part  intended  merely 
for  household  use.  They 
show  the  elaborate  art, 
or  artifice,  which  was  em- 
ployed to  adapt  Christian 
themes  and  symbols  to 
decorative  ends ;  and  they  help  us  in  some  measure  to  picture 
the  great  chandeliers  of  gold  and  silver  which  decorated  the 
churches. 

It  is,  however,  a  far  cry  from  these  little  bronze  lamps  to 
the  costly  works  of  art  which  have  perished  and  are  commem- 
orated only  by  the  texts.  No  other  elements  of  early  church 
decoration  and  furnishing  give  such  an  impression  of  luxury 
and  magnificence  as  the  devices  for  artificial  illumination  which 
are  described  in  early  texts.  It  is  by  no  means  easy  to  re- 
construct the  various  forms  of  chandelier  which  are  briefly 
enumerated  in  the  Liber  Pontificalis.  The  names  by  which 
they  are  denoted  give  no  certain  idea  of  their  character,  and 


Terra-cotta  lamp  representing  a  martyr 
exposed  to  a  lion. 


850 


MINOR   ARTS 


F i < ; .  152.  —  Terracotta  lamp. 


tin"  Classical  analogies  —  e.g.  the  bronze  and  silver  chandeliers 
found  at  Pompeii  —  represent  only  very  inadequately  the  more 
sumptuous  works  which  are  here  indicated.  Of  the  great  co- 
rona with  its  pendent  lamps  which  illuminated  the  church  of 
S.  Felix  at  Nola,  Paulinus  gives  an  enthusiastic  and  detailed 
description ;  yet  the  reconstructions  of  it  are  insecure  and  con- 
tradictory. This  corona 
apparently  encircled  a 
great  cross,  and  both  sup- 
ported pendent  lamps. 
A  fresco  in  the  cata- 
combs (Fig.  83)  shows 
how  the  cross  was  used 
in  the  fifth  century  to 
support  lamps  or  candles.  In  the  fourth  century,  when  the 
cross  was  not  yet  represented  in  realistic  form,  the  Constan- 
tinian  monogram  was  used  in  the  same  way,  as  is  shown  by 
a  monument  preserved  in  the  Vatican  Museum.  Lamps  in  the 
form  of  a  fish  must  have  been  more  common  than  existing  monu- 
ments would  lead  us  to  suppose  (see  the  clay  fish  represented  in 
Fig.  152)  ;  many  of  the  pendent  lamps  which  Constantine  pre- 
sented to  the  Lateran  were  in  the 
form  of  the  dolphin.  Astonishing  is 
the  number  of  lamps  which  Constan- 
tine presented  to  the  Lateran  basilica. 
There  were  no  less  than  174  chande- 
liers and  candlesticks  of  the 
most  various  sorts.  De 
Fleury  has  reckoned  that 
altogether  they  furnished 
8730  separate  lights.  The 
ideal  of  the  ancients  was 
not  the  attainment  of  the  maximum  power  of  illumination,  but 
the  impression  of  beauty  produced  by  an  arrangement  of  various 
sorts  of  lamps  and  various  qualities  of  flame.  By  the  sheer 
intensity  of  artificial  light  one  can  turn  the  night  into  day 
and  outdo  the  sun ;  by  an  artistic  arrangement  of  small  lamps 
and  candles  which  are  barely  sufficient  to  overcome  the  dark- 
ness, one  can  rival  the  beauty  of  the  starry  heavens. 

The  lamps  given  to  the  Lateran  (Basilica  Constantiniana)  are 


Fig.  153. 


Bronze  lamp  in  form  of  a  basilica. 
Fifth  century. 


LA  MI'S 


351 


thus  enumerated  by  the  Liber  Pontifical™ :  "A  chandelier 
(farus)  of  purest  gold  which  hung  under  the  ciborium  (fasti- 
dium,  see  p.  157)  with  50  dolphins  of  purest  gold,  weighing  50 
pounds,  with  chains  which  weighed  25  pounds."  This  was 
probably  in  the  shape  of  a  great  crown,  from  which  the  single 
lamps  (the  dolphins)  were  suspended.  Under  the  four  are  lies 
of  the  ciborium  there  hung  "4  crowns  of  purest  gold,  with  20 
dolphins,  weighing 
each  15  pounds." 
"A  chandelier 
(farus  cantharus)  of 
purest  gold  before 
the  altar,  in  which 
burned  genuine 
nard,  with  80  dol- 
phins, weighing  30 
pounds.  A  silver 
ch  andelier  (fa  r  u  s 
cantharus)  with  20 
dolphins,  where 
there  burned  genu- 
ine nard."  Farus 
denotes  in  general 
a  chandelier ;  the 
farus  cantharus 
seems  to  have  been 
either  an  upright 
lamp-holder  resting 
upon  the  floor,  or  some  sort  of  corona  suspended  from  the 
ceiling.  One  must  picture  a  great  cantharus  with  many  wick? 
or  one  great  flame,  surrounded  by  a  crown  which  supporter 
the  pendent  lamps.  In  the  nave  of  the  Lateran  there  wen 
45  such  lamps  of  silver  (without  mention  of  pendants)  each 
weighing  30  pounds.  The  cantharus  could  obviously  be  used 
alone ;  a  pendent  lamp  of  this  sort  was  later  called  butro.  The 
gabatha  was  a  dish-shaped  lamp  for  floating  wicks.  In  the 
right  aisle  of  the  basilica  there  were  40  silver  chandeliers  each 
weighing  20  pounds,  and  in  the  left,  25  of  the  same  weight. 
In  the  nave  (in  gremio)  of  the  basilica  there  were  also  "  50 
silver  chandeliers  for  holding  candles  (cant ara  cirostata)  each 


Fig.  154.  —  Bronze  lamp, 


852  MINOR  ARTS 

weighing  20  pounds."  Whether  they  stood  upon  the  floor,  or 
hung  from  the  ceiling,  is  not  stated;  nor  whether  they  sup- 
ported one  or  more  candles.  At  all  events,  there  were  seven 
candelabra  which  did  certainly  rest  upon  the  floor,  one  in  front 
of  each  of  seven  altars  (see.  p.  126).  They  were  of  copper 
inlaid  with  reliefs  in  silver  representing  the  prophets,  they 
were  ten  feet  high,  and  they  weighed  each  three  hundred 
pounds.  Mentioned  in  this  connection,  and  apparently  de- 
signed to  contain  oil  for  the  lamps,  are  "3  measures  (Metretas) 
of  purest  silver,  weighing  each  300  pounds  and  holding  more 
than  115  gallons  (medemnos  X)." 

It  will  be  noticed  that,  while  both  candles  and  lamps  were 
used,  the  lamps  had  the  preference,  and  they  only  were  used 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  altar.  This  distinction 
holds  good  for  all  of  the  early  period.  On  the  altar  itself 
there  were  no  lights ;  as  the  celebrant  faced  the  people,  they 
would  have  been  an  ■  incumbrance.  About  the  tenth  cen- 
tury the  candle  carried  by  the  acolyte  was  sometimes  placed 
temporarily  on  the  altar  for  the  convenience  of  the  celebrant 
(his  position  with  respect  to  the  people  having  been  changed)  ; 
but  it  was  not  till  later  that  it  became  a  permanent  feature  of 
the  altar  furniture.  The  altar  was  nevertheless  brightly  illu- 
minated, and  plainly  marked  as  the  centre  of  attention,  by  the 
lamps  which  hung  from  the  ciborium.  In  the  Lateran,  as  we 
have  seen,  there  were  at  least  one  hundred  and  thirty  lights 
pendent  from  the  ciborium  (supposing  each  dolphin  bore  but 
one  wick),  and  one  hundred  lamps  burned  in  front  of  the  altar, 
in  the  nave.  ISTot  to  speak  of  the  beauty  of  the  olive  oil  light 
itself,  the  artistic  possibilities  of  small  pendent  lamps  are 
far  superior  to  any  effect  which  can  be  produced  by  the 
modern  candles  upon  the  reredos. 

A  silver  box  of  the  fifth  century  from  Xumidia  (Fig.  161) 
bears  upon  its  lid  the  representation  of  an  orans  between  two 
tall  candlesticks.  This  is  interesting,  not  only  as  a  rare  illus- 
tration of  an  ancient  candlestick,  but  because  it  reveals  the 
symbolical  meaning  which  was  attached  to  lights  in  the  early 
Church.  Lights  represented  the  glories  of  paradise ;  the  orans 
—  which  perhaps  stands  for  some  saint  whose  relics  were 
treasured  in  this  box  —  is  thus  pictured  in  bliss.  This  mean- 
ing  is  further  expressed  by  the  mountain  upon  which  she 


CENSERS  863 

stands,  and  out  of  which  gusli  the  four  rivers  of  paradise. 
Candles  or  torches  were  for  the  Christians,  as  for  the  pa- 
gans, an  invariable  accompaniment  of  funeral  processions. 
This  was  a  perfectly  natural  use,  since  Classical  custom 
encouraged  burial  at  night;  and  it  was  even  more  strictly 
necessary  in  the  case  of  the  Christians,  who  buried  in  the 
catacombs.  With  less  reason  the  use  was  extended  to  all 
religious  processions,  whether  by  day  or  night.  They  were 
doubtless  carried  in  the  litany  processions  which  became  so 
common  in  the  fifth  century,  and  portable  lights  must  from 
this  time  on  have  been  the  common  accompaniment  of  pro- 
cessions in  the  churches.  Candles  are  carried  by  courtiers  or 
civil  officials  in  a  procession  which  conveys  some  relic  to  the 
cathedral  of  Treves,  as  depicted  in  an  ivory  carving  of  the 
fifth  century  (Fig.  110)._ 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  costly  crowns,  which  were 
merely  decorative  and  supported  no  lamps,  were  a  common 
form  of  votive  offering  after  the  fifth  century. 

CENSERS 

Another  custom  which  was  originally  associated  with  pro- 
cessions, in  particular  with  funeral  processions,  was  the  use  of 
incense.  How  early  incense  may  have  been  used  by  the 
Church  it  is  not  possible  to  fix  with  precision ;  the  monu- 
ments in  particular  have  very  little  evidence  to  offer  on  the 
subject.  But  the  fact  that  so  little  is  said  of  it  even  after  the 
date  at  which  it  is  known  to  have  been  in  use,  proves  at  once 
how  naturally  it  must  have  been  adopted  as  an  obvious  con- 
comitant of  the  funeral,  and  how  little  significance  must  have 
been  attached  to  it  in  relation  to  worship.  In  connection  with 
funerals  its  utilitarian  convenience  is  especially  obvious,  and 
as  a  matter  of  fact  it  seems  to  have  been  thus  used  by  the 
pagans  without  any  symbolical  reference.  It  had  also,  how- 
ever, among  the  pagans  a  distinctly  religious  use,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  suppose  that  it  could  have  been  regarded  as  a  fea- 
ture of  Christian  worship  as  long  as  pagan  customs  remained  a 
lively  menace  to  the  Church  or  even  a  vivid  recollection.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  high  regard  showed  for  incense  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  its  use  in  Jewish  worship,  must  have  tended  to 
2a 


354  MI  Sol!  ARTS 

overcome  such  scruple.  At  all  events,  it  was  used  in  the 
churches  as  early  as  the  fourth  cent  hit.  though  apparently 
on  aesthetic  grounds,  like  the  burning  of  scented  nard  in  the 
lamps.  Constantine  presented  to  S.  Peter's  "  a  censer  (tymia- 
materium)  of  purest  gold,  adorned  on  all  sides  with  gems  to 
the  number  of  60,  weighing  15  pounds,"  —  it  is  hardly  to 
be  decided  whether  this  was  a  swinging  censer  or  a  station- 
ary one.  It  is  clear  that  the  use  of  censers,  like  the  use  of 
portable  lights,  passed  from  funerals  to  processions  of  all  sorts, 
and  so  finally  to  processions  within  the  church.  Censers  are 
not  carried  in  the  procession  which  is  represented  in  Fig. 
110,  but  they  are  swung  by  the  on-lookers  from  the  windows 
of  the  palace.  A  censer  is  carried  by  a  deacon  (Fig.  134)  in 
the  procession  which  Justinian  makes  to  S.  Vitale.  This 
censer  is  represented  on  a  larger  scale  in  Fig.  149.  The 
second  figure  on  this  plate  reproduces  the  shape  of  the  censers 
which  appear  in  Fig.  110 ;  the  third  figure  represents  a  bronze 
censer  preserved  at  Mannheim ;  it  is  probably  of  the  same 
date.  There  are  no  earlier  representations  of  censers  iu  Chris- 
tian art. 

DIVERS    OBJECTS 

One  of  the  subjects  which  properly  belongs  to  this  chapter 
—  that  of  rings  and  carved  stones  —  it  has  been  found  conven- 
ient to  treat  in  relation  to  Christian  symbolism  in  general 
(p.  234).  Work  in  ivory,  so  far  as  it  belongs  to  pictorial 
art,  has  been  considered  iu  the  previous  chapter ;  for  the  rest, 
the  small  objects  in  ivory  found  in  the  tombs  have  no  artistic, 
and  but  small  archaeological,  interest.  Coins  with  Christian 
emblems  have  already  been  mentioned  (p.  239),  as  well  as  two 
medals  representing  the  heads  of  the  chief  Apostles  (p.  251, 
Figs.  90,  91). 

Medals  of  devotion  decorated  with  Christian  symbols  con- 
stitute the  only  class  of  amulets  which  have  any  artistic  inter- 
est. Their  likeness  to  the  bullae  of  the  pagans  is  sufficiently 
obvious.  They  early  came  into  use,  together  with  other  forms 
of  amulets,  and  their  use  increased  rajDidly  after  the  peace  of 
the  Church.  Figure  159  represents  a  bronze  medal,  which  is  not 
later  than  the  fourth  century  ;  the  subjects  which  appear  on  it 
belong  to  the  earliest  cycle  of  Christian  art.     In  the  midst  is 


DIVE  Its    OBJECTS 


.%.-> 


the  Good  Shepherd ;  above,  Adam  and  Eve ;  then  Jonah  under 
his  gourd,  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  Moses  striking  the  rock,  the 
two  other  Jonah  scenes,  Susanna,  Daniel,  and  Noah. 

The  use  of  oil  ampulla?,  has  been  described  in  another  place 
(p.  80) ;  the  ampullae,  themselves  are  invariably  very  rude 
productions  in  terra-cotta,  metal,  or  glass,  but  they  are  usually 
ornamented  and  have  a 
considerable  iconograph- 
ical  interest.  They  are 
only  less  numerous  than 
Christian  lamps.  In- 
comparably the  most 
common  are  those  which 
were  brought  by  pil- 
grims from  the  tomb  of 
S.  Mennas,  near  Alex- 
andria, and  are  found  all 
over  Europe.  They  bear 
an  image  of  the  saint 
between  two  kneeling 
camels  —  suggested  by 
the  legend  that  a  camel 
of  his  own  accord  drew 
the  bier  of  S.  Mennas  to 
the  tomb.  The  ampullar 
usually  bore  the  image 
and  symbols  of  the  saint 
from  whose  tomb  the  oil 
was  taken.  Figure  158 
represents  a  metal  am- 
pulla of  the  sixth  century  from  Monza,  which  contained  oil  from 
the  holy  places  of  Jerusalem,  and  is,  therefore,  decorated  with 
scenes  representing  the  Crucifixion,  the  Resurrection,  and  the 
Ascension. 

The  lead  coffin  illustrated  in  Fig.  9  is  a  good  example  of  a 
common  sort  of  metal  work  of  the  fourth  century.  A  fifth 
century  reliquary  from  Numidia,  illustrated  by  Fig.  161,  is 
an  example  of  a  higher  class  of  work ;  it  is  the  more  rare 
because  it  is  of  silver;  its  decoration  is  borrowed  from  the 
mosaics  of  the  basilicas.     A  lead  cup  from  Carthage  (Figs. 


Fig.  155.  —Bronze  lamp,  Jonah  under  the  gourd. 


;;,-,<; 


MINOR   ARTS 


L56,  L57)  of  the  same  or  the  follow- 
ing century  is  interesting  chiefly  as 

an  illustration  of  the  mingling  of 
Christian  and  pagan  subjects,  which 
witnesses  to  the  impotence  of  de- 
cadent art  to  cut  itself  loose  from 
earlier  models.  In  this  case  the 
decoration  consists  of  small  plaques 
of  lead  soldered  upon  the  cup. 
Work  in  enamel,  executed  in  very 

Pig.   156.  -Lend    cup   from    ancient    various       ways,      was      Common      ill 
Carthage.     Fifth  century.     A  mix-  •>    '  . 

ture  of  Christian  and  pagan  designs.    Greece,  but  tell   Out  ot   taVOl'  1U  the 


Fig.  1ST.  —  Designs  of  the  above  cup  displayed. 


Roman  period  (probably  because  figured  glasswork  was  pre- 
ferred) ;  and  Christian  examples  of  it  are  rare  and  of  slight 


Fig.  15s.  —  Metal  ampulla  in  Monza.    Sixth  century. 


GLASS 


357 


importance  till  the  Byzantine  revival,  which  lies  beyond  our 

limits.     In  the  fifth  century  began  the  use  of  small  crosses  as 

amulets;  processional  crosses  came 

into  use  about  the  same  time;  the 

altar  cross  was  not  used  within  our 

period. 

GLASS 

Early  Christian  glass  technic  de- 
mands special  attention.  The  in- 
dustry was  closely  contemporary 
with  Christianity  and  made  rapid 
progress  during  the  first  centuries. 

Glass    was     a    rarity    in    the    time    of    Fig- 159. -Bronze  medal  of  the  fourth 

,    "  .  i-i         century,  with  Christian  symbols. 

Augustus,  but  the   quantity  which 

was  found  in  the  catacombs  proves  that  it  had  become  fairly 
abundant  by  the  fourth  century.  It  is  not  necessary,  how- 
ever, to  speak  of  the  plain  glass  vessels,  which  were  of  course 
the  most  abundant ;  and  only  a  word  need  be  said  about  the  cut 
and  engraved  glass. 

The  simplest  decoration  upon  glass  was  made  by  tracing 
patterns  in  line  with  a  point  —  graffiti  on  glass.  This  was 
usually  freehand  work,  rapidly  and  carelessly  executed.  The 
scenes  which  serve  for  this  decoration  are  taken  from  Classical 
mythology,  from  everyday  life,  or  from  among  the  common 
subjects  of  Christian  art.  One  of  the  most  interesting  exam- 
ples of  this  art  —  though  barbarously  rude  in  workmanship  — 
is  a  cup  found  in  Podgoritza  in  Albania,  and  now  in  the  Mu- 
seum of  Saint  Petersburg.  Its  interest  lies  in  the  fact  that  it 
brings  together  most  of  the  important  scenes  which  constitute 
the  early  Biblical  cycle  of  the  catacombs. 

A  very  much  superior  technic  consisted  in  deep  cutting  and 
modelling  with  the  wheel.  The  patterns  used  were  seldom 
merely  conventional;  the  work,  therefore,  required  great  skill, 
and  there  are  no  good  examples  of  it  after  the  third  century. 
When  the  designs  were  cut  on  the  inside  of  the  glass  they  were 
sometimes  lined  with  a  color,  or  with  gold-leaf,  giving  the  effect 
of  enamel.  Cut  sufficiently  deep  from  the  outer  surface,  they 
gave  a  charming  effect  of  transparency.  An  example  of  this 
latter  sort  is  given  by  Fig.  160,  which  represents  a  fragment 


358 


MIXOn   ARTS 


of  a  cylindrical  vase  of  the  shape  which  the  Romans  called 
miliaria  ;  it  belongs  to  the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century,  and 
it  evidently  represented  a  considerable  number  of  Biblical  sub- 
jects,—  the  three  subjects  which  are  preserved  are  distinctly 

original  both  in  selection  and  execu- 
tion. 

The  most  elaborate  and  most  beau- 
tiful products  of  the  glass  industry 
were  what  is  called  the  vasa  diatreta, 
carved  in  relief  through  superim- 
posed layers  of  differently  colored 
glass,  with  the  effect  of  a  cameo. 
The  most  perfect  specimen  of  this  art 
is  the  Portland  vase  in  the  British 
Museum.  In  the  Christian  period 
this  refined  art  produced  only  works 
of  minor  importance;  the  difficulty 
of  the  technic,  particularly  the  dan- 
ger of  shattering  one  of  the  layers  of 
glass,  gave  rise  to  imitations  which 
were  made  by  soldering  upon  the 
surface  small  figures  already  cut  out 
of  colored  glass.  A  beautiful  glass 
of  this  sort  was  found  in  a  cemetery 
at  Treves  ;  on  a  white  ground  tinged 
with  light  blue  of  varying  intensity 
there  is  a  row  of  fish  and  two  rows 
of  marine  shell-fish.  Whether  this 
was  properly  of  Christian  or  of  pagan 
manufacture,  the  Christian  interpreta- 
tion of  the  design  is  evident  enough. 
It  is,  however,  the  so-called  gold- 
glass  which  is  most  expressly  — 
indeed,  almost  exclusively  —  associ- 
ated with  Christian  art.  It  seems 
to  have  had  its  origin  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century, 
and  the  art  was  hardly  continued  beyond  the  fourth.  Most 
of  the  examples  preserved  have  been  found  in  the  Roman 
catacombs,  where  it  was  the  fashion  to  press  them  (merely  as 
a  mark  of  identification)  upon  the  fresh  plaster  which  closed 


Fig.  160.  —  Fragment  of  a  cut-glass 
vessel  of  the  fourth  century. 
Vestiges  of  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac, 
Daniel  among  the  lions,  the  Isra- 
elites following  the  pillar  of  fire. 


GLASS  359 

the  loculus.  The  hardening  of  the  plaster  preserved  them,  or 
preserved  at  Least  bhe  round  plate  which  formed  the  bottom  of 
the  glass,  and  which  was  the  field  principally  used  for  decora- 
tion. It  is  rare  that  a  whole  glass  of  this  sort  lias  been  pre- 
served, ami  it-  has  been  a  matter  of  dispute  to  what  sort  of 
vessel  these  round  plates  appertained.  They  were  commonly 
of  two  sorts:  a  deep  saucer,  and  a  tall  cup  or  drinking  glass, 
probably  in  matched  pairs.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the 
glasses  found  in  the  catacombs  were  whole  when  they  were 
attached  to  the  plaster,  and  not  rather  mere  fragments  which 
had  already  served  their  term  of  use  in  the  household,  and 
were  no  longer  serviceable  except  as  marks  of  identification. 
It  is  certain,  at  any  rate,  that  very  small  disks  (Figs.  165,  166) 
which  were  soldered  on  to  the  glass,  and  constituted  almost 
the  sole  decoration  employed  for  the  broad  margin  of  saucers, 
were  also  used  as  charms  or  ornaments,  for  they  have  been 
found  surrounded  by  a  band  of  gold,  in  order  that  they  might 
be  suspended  from  the  neck.  The  drinking  glasses  were 
chiefly  ornamented  at  the  bottom.  The  technic  consisted 
in  engraving  upon  a  gold-leaf  attached  to  the  glass,  and  after- 
wards protecting  it  by  a  glass  film.  The  engraving  was  exe- 
cuted with  a  point,  commonly  in  mere  outline,  but  sometimes 
with  a  careful  shading  and  modelling,  which  "was  occasionally 
enhanced  by  the  use  of  colors.  The  finest  specimens,  however, 
were  designed  by  minute  dots,  as  in  a  mezzotint  engraving. 

This  seems  to  have  been  a  local  Eoman  art  practised  in 
pagan  shops  (perhaps  even  in  Jewish)  before  it  was  adopted 
by  Christianity.  There  are,  in  fact,  a  number  of  glasses  which 
represent  mythological  subjects  or  purely  pagan  themes,  and 
the  Jewish  origin  of  others  is  clearly  proved  by  representations 
of  the  seven-branched  candlesticks  and  of  the  Ark  of  the  Cov- 
enant. Christian  themes  are,  however,  much  more  numerous 
and  more  varied,  and  it  is  evident  that  these  glasses  were  manu- 
factured in  Christian  shops  before  the  time  of  Constantine. 
As  this  art  flourished  before  as  well  as  after  the  Peace  of  the 
Church,  it  represented  subjects  which  belonged  to  both  the 
earlier  and  the  later  cycle,  borrowing,  on  the  one  hand,  from 
the  catacomb  frescos,  and,  on  the  other,  from  the  mosaics  of 
the  basilicas.  The  Good  Shepherd  was  frequently  represented 
at  the  bottom  of  a  drinking  glass  (Fig.  162).     Tertullian  refers 


3<;o 


M1N0B   ARTS 


reproachfully  to  the  use  of  Eucharistic  chalices  in  which  was 
painted  the  image  of  the  Good  Shepherd;1  and  though  wo 
have  no  reason  to  suppose  thai  this  art  of  gold-glass  was  so 
ancient,  a  similar  style  of  decora)  ion  inns)  evidently  have  been 
in  use.  ami  notwithstanding  this  gold-glassware  never  presents 
the  form  proper  to  the  chalice,  the  suggestion  that  vessels  so 
decorated  were  used  for  the  Eucharist  is  too  natural  to  be  put 
aside.  The  subjects  are  predominantly  religious.  A  common 
device  for  the  decoration  of  a  cup  was  manifestly  copied  from 


Fig.  161. 


?r  box  from  Africa.     Fourth  or  fifth  century.     On  the  lid,  an  orans  between 
harts  slaking  their  thirst  at  the  four  streams  of  Paradise  (the 


the  ceiling  decoration  of  the  catacombs ;  it  consists  of  a  central 
medallion  surrounded  by  radiating  compartments  which  con- 
tain representations  of  Old  and  JSTew  Testament  miracles.  In 
Fig.  168  the  subjects  are  crowded  together,  and  the  divisions 
are  barely  marked;  this  seems  to  reflect  the  influence  of  the 
sarcophagi.  The  imitation  of  the  mosaics  was  not  less  close ; 
in  this  case  there  was  a  horizontal  division,  the  scene  above 
representing  the  half  dome  of  the  apse,  that  below,  the  wall. 
The  religious  subjects  which  appear  upon  the  gold-glasses  have 
been  sufficiently  noticed  under  Pictorial  Art. 

There  appears,  however,  upon  the  gold-glasses  another  range 

i  De  Pudicitia,  7,  10. 


GLASS 


301 


of  subjects  —  partly  religious  and  partly  secular —  which  is  far 
more  characteristic  of  them,  and  which  seems  to  i 1 1 <  1  i < • ; 1 1 * ■  their 
use.  Genre  pictures,  which  were  rare  in  the  catacombs,  were 
especially  common  upon  the  gold-glasses.  The  commonest 
themes  were  representations  of  a  married  pair,  or  of  a  family 
group  (Fig.  107),  accompanied  usually  by  the  names  of  the 
couple,  and  almost  always  by  a  toast.  Pie  zeses  (drink  !  live!) 
was  the  usual  toast;  zeses  —  a  mere  transliteration  from  the 
Greek  —  was  more  common  than  the  Latin  vivas.     A  married 


two  candlesticks  ;  on  one  side,  the  Agnus  Dei  and  the  Apostolic  sheep  ;  on  the  other,  two 
Gospels),  which  spring  from  beneath  the  monogram  of  Christ. 


couple,  greeted  with  this  toast,  appears  in  the  midst  of  the 
religious  scenes  depicted  in  Fig.  168.  A  similar  toast  (Dig- 
nitas  amicorum  pie  zeses)  was  inscribed  about  the  picture  of 
Adam  and  Eve  in  Fig.  163.  In  this  case  Eve  is  adorned 
with  bracelets,  a  necklace,  and  an  artificial  head-dress ;  it  is 
probable  that  this  scene  was  commonly,  though  not  very  aptly, 
chosen  to  represent  married  felicity.  A  toast  in  Greek  appears 
also  upon  the  third  glass  representing  the  Good  Shepherd,  in 
Fig.  162,  and  from  innumerable  examples  of  the  same  sort 
it  is  evident  that  the  religious  as  well  as  the  secular  represen- 
tations were  meant  to  adorn  the  glasses  which  were  used  for  mere 
family  feasts.     They  were  doubtless  prepared  as  gifts  for  wed- 


302 


MINOR   ARTS 


dings,  birthdays,  and  all  sorts  of  family  festivals.  A  common 
toast  was,  "  Take  a  crown,  drink,  and  live."  Crowns  of  leaves 
or  flowers  were  commonly  used  at  Christian  feasts,  notwith- 
standing their  pagan  associations.  Figure  1(17  represents  a 
.small  figure  placing  wreaths  upon  the  heads  of  a  husband  and 
wife j  such  a  figure  is  sometimes  designated  by  name  in  the 
inscription  as  Christus.  Figure  1(59  hails  with  a  toast  an  over- 
seer, "Daedalius,  your  hope  [is  in  Christ].     Drink.     Live." 

The  commonest  subjects  of  all  are  the  images  of  popular 
Roman  saints.  Maria  appears  frequently  between  Petrus  and 
Paulus;  and  among  the  Roman  martyrs — the  Apostles  excepted 
—  Agnes  was  by  far  the  most  popular.     Eighty  out  of  the  three 


Fio.  162.  — Fragments  of  three  gold-glasses  of  the  third  or  fourth  century.    The  Good  Shep- 
herd in  the  different  attitudes. 

hundred  glasses  published  by  Garrucci  contain  representations 
of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul.  When  we  think  of  the  Christian 
agapes,  and  above  all  of  the  anniversary  feasts  in  memory  of 
the  martyrs,  we  can  realize  how  many  occasions  of  a  more  or 
less  religious  nature  the  Christians  had  to  use  drinking  glasses, 
and  we  can  understand  the  selection  of  such  ornament. 


THE    TEXTILE    ART 


Of  all  the  arts,  it  is  the  textile  which  stands  in  the  closest 
and  most  necessary  relation  to  human  life.  It  is  a  matter  of 
course  that  in  Classical  and  in  early  Christian  literature  there 
are  innumerable  references  to  it ;  there  are  names  denoting  the 
texture  and  color  of  textile  stuff,  descriptions  more  or  less 
detailed  of  its   decoration,  and   indications  of   its   use.     But 


TEXTILE   AItT 


303 


such  fabrics  were  among  the  most  perishable  of  all  the  mate- 
rials used  in  the  arts ;  and.  without  the  preservation  of  the 
stuffs  themselves,  the  names,  familiar  and  clear  as  they  were 
to  the  ancients,  are  almost  without  significance  to  us,  and  the 
descriptions  hardly  avail  to  describe  them.  What  significance 
are  we  to  attach,  for  instance,  to  the  many  names  denoting 
various  shades  of  "purple";  or  to  the  terms  descriptive  of 
different  qualities  of  silk ;  or  to  the  accounts  of  figured  stuffs, 
when  we  do  not  know  by  what  method  of  embroidery  they 
were  executed,  or  whether  it  was  by  embroidery  at  all  ?  Long 
and  fruitless  study  has  proved  how  thoroughly  impossible  it  is 


Fig.  163.  —  Fragments  of  two  gold-glasses.     Daniel  slaying  Bel,  Adam  and  Eve. 


to  come  to  any  clear  idea  about  these  matters  so  long  as  monu- 
mental evidence  is  entirely  lacking.  Painted  representations 
of  clothing,  hangings,  etc.,  have  constituted  until  lately  almost 
the  only  sort  of  monumental  evidence  which  threw  any  light 
upon  Classic  textiles  ;  and  considering  the  character  of  most  of 
the  paintings  which  have  been  preserved  to  us,  and  the  ruinous 
condition  in  which  they  have  been  transmitted,  that  evidence 
is  very  far  from  being  complete  or  even  reliable.  Lately,  how- 
ever, there  have  been  discovered  in  Egypt  almost  inexhaustible 
treasures  of  textile  stuffs;  and  the  examples  which  are  now 
distributed  among  most  of  the  great  museums  of  the  world  are  . 
probably  sufficient  to  illustrate  every  term  which  is  used  in 
this  connection  in  Classic  and  early  Christian  literature.  Un- 
fortunately, the  value  of  this  great  store  of  information  is  still 


364 


MINOR   ARTS 


only  potential j  the  study  of  its  relation  to  Classical  literature, 
or  to  Classical  art  and  life,  has  hardly  yet  been  begun.  This 
chapter  is  the  poorer  for  the  lack  of  such  a  study,  which  is 
licit'  ret'envd  to  as  a  rewarding  subject  of  investigation. 

These  Egyptian  finds,  however,  bear  upon  their  very  face, 
and  quite  apart  from  their  relation  to  Classical  texts,  a  clear 
witness  to  almost  all  phases  of  this  important  art,  as  it  was 
practised  from  the  third  century  to  the  seventh.  Any  one 
who  is  acquainted  with  the  art  of  weaving  can  detect  by  an 
inspection  of  these  fabrics  the  technical  processes  which  were 
employed  in  the  manufacture  of  them ;  but  the  most  important 

evidence  which  they  offer  is  quite 
on  the  surface  and  is  obvious  to 


Fig.  164.  —  Fragments  of  two  gold-glasses.    The  story  of  Jonah. 


the  mere  layman.  They  show  at  a  glance  the  material,  the 
texture,  the  quality,  the  colors,  and  the  forms,  which  character- 
ized ancient  textiles.  They  serve  in  particular  to  put  vividly 
before  us  the  character  of  one  of  the  most  important  features 
of  the  decoration  of  the  churches :  the  curtains,  altar  cover- 
ings, etc.  It  is  this  consideration  especially  which  concerns  us 
here ;  but  it  will  be  necessary  first  to  describe  generally  and 
briefly  the  character  of  these  finds,  and  it  may  be  well  also  to 
give  some  account  of  their  discovery  and  study. 

The  first  finds  were  made  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  this 
century  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sakkarah ;  in  1801  a  tunic  came 
into  the  possession  of  the  Louvre,  and  other  textiles  from  the 
same  source  were  later  collected  in  Turin,  and  in  the  British 
I\Iuseum.     There  was,  however,  no  methodical  exploration  of 


TEXTILE  ABT 


365 


the  site,  and  it  is  only  within  the  last  fifteen  years  that  an 
overwhelming  abundance  of  material  has  been  furnished  by 
the  burial-ground  of  Achmim.  Achmim  (a  name  variously 
transliterated),  in  upper  Egypt  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Nile, 
was  the  ancient  Egyptian  Chemmis  —  in  Ptolemaic  times  Pan- 
opolis  —  renowned  for  its  sculptors  and  masons  as  well  as  for  its 
linen  weaving.  This  site  has  already  been  exhausted ;  unfor- 
tunately not  by  intelligent  exploration,  but  by  indiscriminate 
pillage  by  the  Arabs,  who  not  only  took  no  thought  to  pre- 
serve intact  the  contents  of  separate  graves,  but  were  com- 
monly indifferent  to  the  preservation  of  individual  garments  in 
their  integrity.  They  frequently  contented  themselves  with 
stripping  off  the  colored  embroideries  and  silks  for  which  they 
were  confident  of  finding  a  market.  This  was  perhaps  one  of 
the  richest  sites,  but  it  is  by  no  means  the  only  one ;  a  few 


Fig.  165. 


Fig.  166. 


other  buiying-grounds  have  already  been  explored  with  some 
success.  Particularly  worthy  of  note  are  the  explorations  of 
the  burying-ground  of  Antinoe,  begun  in  1897  by  the  Musee 
Guimet  of  Paris,  and  completed  in  1898  with  the  cooperation 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Lyons.  These  excavations 
were  very  fruitful,  and  they  were  of  course  conducted  under 
the  best  scientific  direction.  The  finds  of  the  year  1898  were 
exhibited  for  a  month  in  Paris,  and  then  divided  between  the 
two  subscribing  parties.  They  illustrate  very  well  the  Classical 
textiles,  and  are  a  good  basis  for  comparison  with  modern 
products  ;  but  they  are  not  very  rich  in  distinctively  Christian 
patterns. 

These  Egyptian  finds  have  been  studied  in  a  slight  mono- 
graph by  Gerspach,  director  of  the  Gobelins.  His  professional 
judgment  upon  the  technic  of  the  art  —  upon  the  processes  of 
weaving,  dyeing,  and  embroidery  —  is  of  course  especially  valu- 
able.    They  have  been  studied  from  a  much  broader  and  more 


3GG 


Ml  SOU   A  UTS 


thoroughly  a ivIuim (logical  point  of  view  by  Dr.  K.  Forrer;  his 
numerous  works  (the  most  important  of  which  are  named 
in  the  Bibliography)  are  profusely  illustrated,  chiefly  in  color. 
Fuiier's  works  refer  almost  exclusively  to  his  own  collection, 
which  is  a  thoroughly  representative  one  and  forms  an  excel- 
lent basis  for  study.  It  has  a  special  interest  for  our  purpose, 
because  it  is  the  collection  richest  in  distinctively  Christian 
embroideries. 

These  excavations  reveal  a  very  simple  mode  of  burial,  which 
remained  the  same  from  the  third  to  the  seventh  century.  The 
body,  after  the  slightest  process  of  embalming,  was  clothed  in 
the  best  garments,  bound  to  a  cypress  bed,  and  without  coffin 
or  shroud  buried  at  a  depth  of  some  five  feet  in  the  dry  sand. 


»  Fig.  167.  —  Fragments  of  two  gold-glasses.    Family  groups. 


The  textiles  which  are  found  in  these  graves  are  therefore 
almost  exclusively  garments ;  properly  studied  they  would  fur- 
nish a  complete  picture  of  the  dress  of  all  classes  throughout 
this  long  period.  In  continuation  of  the  pagan  custom,  minor 
objects  of  various  sorts  were  placed  in  the  graves ;  they  some- 
times denote  the  profession  of  the  defunct.  One  cannot  but 
marvel  at  the  perfect  preservation  of  all  the  various  textiles 
found  in  these  graves  ;  it  is  due  merely  to  the  exceeding  dry- 
ness of  the  sand.  "Whether  they  be  of  linen,  cotton,  silk,  or 
wool,  they  are  many  of  them  still  sound  and  fit  for  use,  pre- 
serving their  color  as  well  as  their  texture.  Parts  have  often 
been  disintegrated  by  the  corruption  of  the  body ;  dyed  woollen 
threads  of  certain  colors  (particularly  red)  have  been  neatly 
eaten  out  by  worms ;  but  the  greatest  destruction  was  left  to 
be  wrought  by  the  Arab  excavators. 


TEXTILE  ABT 


367 


Gerspach  affirms  upon  the  evidence  of  these  finds  that  almost 
every  product  known  to  modern  textile  art  was  produced  in 
great  perfection  by  the  ancients.  To  quote  this  judgment, 
which  is  strikingly  borne  out  by  the  facts,  is  sufficient  excuse 
for  not  attempting  here  either  to  describe  or  to  enumerate  the 
various  kinds  of  fabrics  which  are  now  brought  to  light.     An 


Fig.  16S.  —  Gold-glasses.     Healing  of  the  paralytic,  raising  of  Lazarus,  Adam  and  Eve,  the 
sacrifice  of  Isaac,  the  water  from  the  rock. 

overwhelming  proportion  of  the  material  is  of  linen  or  cotton. 
A  colder  country  might  naturally  be  expected  to  show  a  greater 
proportion  of  woollen  garments ;  even  here,  however,  the  weight 
and  warmth  of  the  woollen  garments  was  sometimes  extraordi- 
nary, and  the  linen  was  frequently  woven  like  Turkish  towel- 
ing (rough  only  on  one  side,  however),  producing  tunics  and 
palliums  of  considerable  warmth.     The  curtain  illustrated  in 


308 


MINOR  ARTS 


Fig.  176  is  of  this  texture.  Cotton  is  sometimes  woven  in 
the  manner  of  Canton  flannel;  or,  with  the  same  mode  of 
weaving,  a  warmer  garment  and  a  more  beautiful  surface  was 
produced  by  a  woof  of  fine  glossy  wool.  For  great  warmth 
and  protection  against  rain  —  one  can  hardly  account  for  such 
garments  in  Egypt  —  a  pure  felt  was  used,  or  a  felt  beaten  into 


Fig.  169. — A  gold-glass.     Inscribed  upon  it  is  a  toast  to  a  certain  Dsedalius,  apparently  a 
superintendent  or  owner  of  a  carpenter  shop. 


a  heavy  woollen  texture.  Light  textures  were,  however,  the 
rule,  though  they  have  rarely  been  so  well  preserved.  Linen 
was  woven  with  great  regularity  and  sometimes  with  exceeding 
fineness ;  very  light  cotton  tunics  were  common ;  and  even 
light  transparent  woollen  fabrics  were  made,  to  be  used  as 
veils,  for  example. 

Silk  was  from  first   to  last  exceedingly  rare;  even  among 
strictly  decorative   stuffs   it  exists  only  in  the  proportion  of 


TEXTILE  ART  369 

about  one  to  one  hundred.  How  rare  it  actually  was  under  the 
Roman  Empire  we  can  judge  from  the  mention  of  two  tunics 
of  half  silk  (subsericus)  given  to  Claudius  by  Valerian  and 
Gallienus.  Elagabalus  (218-222)  was  the  first  to  wear  clothes 
of  pure  silk  (holosericus).  At  a  later  time,  however,  silk  cer- 
tainly became  much  more  common  in  Rome  than  the  cemetery 
of  a  provincial  Egyptian  town  would  give  any  idea  of.  As 
we  find  it  there,  it  was  mainly  employed  in  small  patches 
(segmenta)  for  the  adornment  of  commoner  fabrics.  In  the 
third  and  fourth  centuries  it  was  generally  in  solid  colors,  or 
with  a  changeable  surface  (evidently,  therefore,  dyed  in  the 
thread) ;  the  ancients  were  sufficiently  delighted  by  the  natural 
sheen  of  the  material.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  such  silk  was 
woven  in  the  extreme  Orient ;  it  was  always  too  thin  for  any 
but  mere  decorative  purposes.  The  Egyptian  weavers  resorted 
to  various  devices  for  economizing  this  rare  substance.  In  the 
case  of  a  light  woollen  veil  in  Forrer's  collection,  the  border  is 
decorated  by  threads  of  silk  shot  through  the  woollen  mesh. 
Another  device  resorted  to  consisted  in  winding  linen  threads 
with  fine  strands  of  silk,  so  that  when  woven  they  gave  on 
both  sides  the  effects  of  pure  silk  fabric.  It  is  probable  that 
in  these  two  methods  we  have  the  distinction  which  the 
Romans  marked  by  subsericus  and  tramosericus,  though  it  is 
not  easy  to  determine  which  was  which.  The  Romans  made  a 
further  distinction  between  sericus  and  holosericus. 

Patterns  woven  in  silk  became  common  later  —  perhaps  as 
early  as  the  fourth  century.  The  silk  was  sometimes  woven 
in  the  shape  of  a  clavus  with  round  or  lanceolate  finial,  all 
ready  to  be  attached  to  the  garment.  A  piece  of  such  a  clavus 
(probably  fifth  century)  is  shown  in  Fig.  171.  The  figures 
are  in  cream-white,  the  natural  color  of  the  silk,  against  a 
silver-gray  ground.  Silk  embroidery  (Figs.  172,  177-179)  did 
not  come  into  common  use  till  the  fifth  century  and  under 
Byzantine  influence. 

Linen  was  rarely  dyed,  and  it  was  frequently  unbleached. 
The  dyeing  of  cotton  was  more  common  ;  it  was  dyed  especially 
a  brick-red  with  tannin  and  iron.  In  the  later  period  it  was 
also  printed  in  patterns.  It  was  of  course  the  wool  which  was 
most  frequently  and  most  richly  dyed,  always,  however,  in 
solid  colors  except  where  it  was  adorned  with  embroideries. 
2b 


370  MINOR   Ah'TS 

It  is  well  known  that  the  pallium,  like  the  toga,  was  usually 
white,  and  decorated  only  at  the  corners;  palliums  both  of 
cotton  and  of  wool  woven  in  broad  stripes  of  bright  colors 
appear  among  our  finds,  but  this  was  hardly  a  general  fashion, 
as  this  garment  fell  into  disuse  too  early  to  be  seriously 
affected  by  the  growing  taste  for  striking  effects  in  colors. 
Women  continued  to  use  the  palla  much  later,  and  it  came  to 
be  decorated  over  its  whole  surface  with  a  diapered  pattern. 
The  dalmatic  was  frequently  adorned  in  the  same  way.  The 
psenula,  on  the  other  hand,  was  always  of  a  solid  color, 
usually  dyed  in  some  shade  of  "  purple,"  though  the  natural 
chestnut-brown  of  some  of  the  Caucasian  wools  was  also 
retained.     Its  sole  decoration  was  a  fringe. 

The  richest  dyes,  however,  were  not  commonly  lavished  upon 
the  whole  piece  of  cloth ;  the  choicest  products  of  the  dyers' 
craft  appear  only  in  the  small  patches  of  tapestry  or  embroidery 
(claims,  segmentum,  gam/madia,  paragavda)  which  showed  like 
gems  against  the  meaner  fabric  which  they  decorated.  It  has 
to  be  remarked  as  a  peculiarity  of  the  ancient  use  of  textiles  in 
decoration  that  the  commonest  fabrics  (plain  linen  or  wool) 
were  used  where  we  should  expect  the  richest;  for  instance, 
for  the  curtains  of  palaces  and  churches.  The  whole  was 
given  character  by  the  borders  (paragaiidcti)  and  segmenta  of 
tapestry  or  silk  which  adorned  it. 

TAPESTRY 

The  chief  interest  of  this  study  centres  in  the  decorative 
patches  above  mentioned ;  they  were  necessarily  costly  and 
had  often  considerable  artistic  worth.  The  most  surprising 
revelation  of  these  Egyptian  finds  is  the  fact  that  this  decora- 
tion was  commonly  not  wrought  in  any  of  the  stitches  which 
are  classed  as  embroidery,  but  in  tapestry.  The  tapestry  was 
always  in  wool  upon  a  linen  backing;  it  was  wrought  precisely 
like  the  early  Flemish  tapestries  and  the  modern  Gobelins, 
upon  an  upright  frame  worked  from  behind.  As  used  upon  a 
linen  garment,  this  decoration  could  be  woven  into  the  fabric ; 
upon  cotton  and  wool  it  was  always  applique,  as  it  was  also 
frequently  upon  linen.  Lasting  longer  than  the  cloth  which  it 
ornamented,  it  could  readily  be  transferred  to  a  new  garment. 


TAPESTRY 


371 


In  considering  either  the  colors  or  the  patterns  of  these 
tapestries,  we  have  to  note  a  marked  difference  between  the 
Classical  and  the  Byzantine  periods,  with  the  fourth  century  as 
a  period  of  transition.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  all  distinc- 
tively Christian  designs  belong  to  the  later  period. 

Nothing  reveals  more  clearly  the  refinement  of  Classical 
taste  than  moderation  in  the  use  of  color ;  it  was  not  variety  of 
color  which  was  prized,  but  the  sheer  beauty  of  a  single  dye. 
Comparison  with  the  best  Gobelin  dyes  shows  that  the  ancient 
colors,  even  after  fourteen  hundred  years,  are  less  readily  faded 
by  the  sun.    In  the  early  period  the  tapestries  were  almost  always 


Fig.  170.  • 


•Segmenta  tor  the  adornment  of  a  garment  from  Aehniim,  Classical  designs  in 
tapestry  current  from  the  second  to  the  fourth  century. 


wrought  in  a  single  color,  in  one  of  the  numerous  shades  classed 
as  purple,  —  varying  from  dark  carmine  red,  reddish  brown,  vio- 
let to  dark  blue  or  black,  —  some  of  which,  as  is  well  known, 
were  more  peculiarly  prized  and  valuable.  The  pattern  was 
pricked  out  by  white  linen  thread ;  it  was  always  quite  intri- 
cate, though  the  general  effect  was  simple.  The  designs  were 
for  the  most  part  geometrical,  combined  with  conventionalized 
vegetable  forms ;  animal  figures  were  introduced  within  the 
frame  of  the  main  design.  Figure  170  is  the  only  illustration 
here  given  of  Classical  segmenta.  More  ambitious  pieces  often 
represented  a  mythological  scene.  These  pieces  are  some- 
times remarkable  for  accuracy  of  design ;  various  colors  were 


372 


MIXOR  ARTS 


sometimes  used  in  elaborately  figured  tapestries,  but  always 
with  great  sobriety.  It  was  the  segmentum,  rather  than  the 
narrow  elavus,  which  gave  scope  for  artistic  treatment.  In 
general  outline  the  segmenta  were  generally  square  or  round ; 
but  various  shapes  were  used,  and  for  the  centre  of  a  cover 

or  curtain  a  star-shaped  figure,  com- 
posed of  superimposed  squares,  was 
especially  common.  The  way  in 
which  these  pieces  were  employed 
in  the  decoration  of  garments  is 
described  in  the  following  chapter. 
Their  use  upon  curtains,  table 
covers,  etc.,  was  similar,  and  is 
very  simply  described  ;  they  were 
generally  placed  only  in  the  centre 
and  at  the  corners.  Figure  176 
represents  a  curtain  of  about  the 
third  century  —  plain  tapestry  of 
brown  purple  wool  upon  linen. 
The  angular  figures  which  here 
decorate  the  corners  are  very  com- 
mon; they  were  called  gammadice 
from  their  resemblance  to  the 
Greek  gamma.  Segmenta  in  the 
shape  of  a  cross,  or  with  the  design 
of  the  Constantinian  monogram, 
were  often  used  in  the  Christian 
period  upon  garments,  curtains, 
and  altar  cloths.  The  letters 
which  are  frequently  represented 
in  early  art  as  decorating  the  cor- 
ners of  the  pallium  were  doubtless 
executed  in  tapestry  applique;  it  is 
useless  to  seek  in  them  any  signifi- 
cance beyond  the  mere  purpose  of  adornment.  Figure  175  shows 
a  more  elaborate  curtain  of  an  expressly  Christian  design ;  it 
betrays  a  later  period,  which  demanded  a  decoration  covering 
more  or  less  completely  the  whole  surface.  The  curtains  rep- 
resented in  the  fifth-century  mosaics  of  Ravenna  (Figs.  135, 
143)  are  decorated  by  segmenta,  but  at  close  intervals  over  the 


Fig.  171.  —  A  piece  of  figured  silk 
from  Achmim.  About  sixth  cen- 
tury. The  eagle  slaying  an  evil 
beast,  Christ  slaying  the  dragon  (a 
crocodile),  —  symbolizing  the 
Church  and  the  Empire  united  in 
the  suppression  of  evil. 


TM'ESTIiY 


373 


whole   surface;    on  the  other   hand,   Figs.  131,  132,  and   L42 
repeat  the  simpler  Classical  design. 

Classical  simplicity  in  the  use  of  the  segmentum  and  its  kin- 
dred forms  endured,  in  fact,  throughout  the  whole  period  with 
which  we  have  to  deal.  The  change  which  we  have  to  note  is 
chiefly  in  the  tapestry  itself.  In  the  fourth  century  there  was 
some  deterioration  in  color,  but  still  more  in  point  of  accuracy 
of  design.  The  same  patterns  were  followed,  but  with  an 
increasing  coarseness  in  the  execution  of  the  geometrical 
designs,  and  hardness  and  conventionality  in  the  treatment 
of  animal  forms.  The  de- 
cadent taste  of  the  fifth 
and  following  centuries 
found  compensation  for 
crudeness  of  design  in  a 
lavish  use  of  colors ;  not 
only  were  there  a  great 
variety  of  new  colors  em- 
ployed, but  they  were 
used  in  vivid  combina- 
tions. This  was  undoubt- 
edly the  effect  of  Oriental 
influence,  which  made  it- 
self felt  even  before  the 
formation  of  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire.  Side  by  ei&.  172 
side  with  the  traditional 
Classical  patterns  there 
came  into  common  use- designs  of  purely  Oriental  character, 
evidently  copied  from  imported  fabrics,  but  in  various  ways 
modified  to  suit  the  requirements  of  Classic  art,  or  adapted 
to  the  expression  of  Christian  symbolism.  The  sacred  tree 
of  Assyria  with  its  animal  guardians  is  only  an  example  of 
such  expressly  Oriental  motives  (see  p.  344).  It  was  at  the 
same  time  and  under  the  same  influence  that  the  custom  gained 
currency  of  decorating  the  whole  surface  with  small  patterns. 
For  this  a  great  variety  of  devices  were  employed ;  but  none 
were  more  common  than  the  four  designs  which  were  to  become 
so  popular  in  tenth-century  Byzantine  stuffs,  as  they  were  also 
on  the  textiles  used  in  Western   Europe  after  the  Crusades, 


Segmentum  in  tapestry  from  Achmim. 
About  seventh  century.  Virgin  and  Child  with  an 
angel. 


374 


MINOR  ARTS 


Fig.  173.  —  Tapestry    from  Achmim. 
Symbol  of  the  divine  omniscience. 


and  which  we  now  naturally  associate  with  our  playing  cards  : 
thai  is,  the  lozenge,  the  heart,  the  trefoil,  and  the  leaf,  —  or 
diamonds,  hearts,  clnbs,  and  spades.  These  figures  had,  it  is 
hue.  no  special  point  of  contact 
with  Christian  symbolism,  but 
they  were  so  commonly  used  in 
the  sixth  century  that  a  combina- 
tion of  them  would  have  seemed 
by  no  means  out  of  place  in  eccle- 
siastical embroidery. 

It  was  hardly  before  the  fifth 
century  that  Biblical  scenes  were 
represented  upon  the  tapestries  as 
we  find  them  in  Egypt.  As  early  as  the  fourth  century, 
however,  literary  sources  refer  to  such  works,  and  Asterius, 
Bishop  of  Amasea,  rebuked  wealthy  Christians  for  adorning 
their  clothes  with  pictures  of  Christ  and  his  disciples,  and  with 

scenes  representing  his  miracles. 
It  is  not  till  the  eighth  century 
that  the  Liber  Pontificalis  expressly 
notices  such  scenes.  By  the  time 
the  representation  of  Christian 
themes  in  tapestry  had  become 
common,  the  art  was  so  far  de- 
cayed that  the  designs  are  con- 
fused, and  often  hardly  intelligible, 
the  effect  depending  chiefly  upon 
the  brightness  of  the  colors.  It 
helped  the-  case  somewhat  that  at 
about  the  same  time  (fifth  cen- 
tury) silk  embroidery  became  com- 
mon (in  Chinese  flat  stitch — what 
the  Romans  called  feather  stitch); 
there  are  many  interesting  exam- 
ples of  it  (Figs.  172, 177,  and  178), 
but  none  which  can  be  called  truly  artistic.  Figure  178  repre- 
sents an  unique  object  in  Eorrer's  collection,  which  is  interest- 
ing quite  apart  from  the  technic  of  the  silk  embroideries  which 
adorn  it.  It  is  a  narrow  scarf  of  fine  linen,  nearly  two  and  a 
half  yards  long,  adorned  with  nine  silk  embroideries,  and  twelve 


174.  —The  Egyptian  cross,  part 
of  a  clavus  in  tapestry. 


TAPESTRY 


375 


patches  (crosses,  squares,  and  lozenges)  of  plain  silk,  all  of  them 
applique.  Forrer  takes  it  to  be  an  episcopal  pallium  of  the 
sixth  century.  It  may  belong  quite  as  well  to  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, and  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  it  was  actually  intended  for 
a  pallium,  which,  even  in  the  East,  has  never  had  any  other  orna- 
ment   than    crosses. 

It    might,    perhaps,       9 f         J         L._J, L     ? 

have  been  a  stole ; 
and,  at  all  events, 
the  religious  subjects 
which  decorate  it 
suggest  an  ecclesias- 
tical use.  '  The  three 
examples  which  are 
here  given  of  these 
embroideries  repre- 
sent the  raising  of 
Lazarus,  the  Cruci- 
fixion, and  Mary 
Magdalene  with  the 
angel  at  the  tomb. 
They  are  worked 
upon  a  reddish  black 
ground  in  carmine 
red,  golden  yellow,  A 
light  blue,  white,  and  / 
green.  Of  the  other 
six  pieces,  two  repre- 
sent angels,  others, 
Christ  enthroned, 
Christ  as  an  orans, 
Christ  instructing  a 
disciple,  Christ  heal- 
ing the  blind  man.  Other  Christian  scenes  which  Forrer  enu- 
merates in  his  collection  are:  Joseph  the  patriarch  (of  special 
interest  to  the  Egyptians),  Elijah  ascending  in  the  chariot,  the 
messengers  carrying  the  grapes  of  Eshcol,  Daniel  among  the 
lions,  and  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  from  the  Old  Testament ;  and 
from  the  New,  the  Annunciation,  the  meeting  of  Mary  with 
Elisabeth  (Fig.  177),  Mary  holding  the  child  Jesus  (Fig.  172), 


Fig.  175.  —  Reconstruction  of  a  curtain  — woollen  tapestry 
on  a  linen  ground.     Fourth  to  sixth  century. 


376 


MINOR  ARTS 


the  Magi  (very  frequent),  the  flight  into  Egypt,  Christ  healing 
the  paralytic,  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  the  entrance  into  Jerusa- 
lem, the  Resurrection,  and  the  Good  Shepherd.  Grants  and 
saints  are  frequently  figured.  The  commonest  animal  symbols 
are  the  fish,  the  dove,  the  lamb,  the  hart,  the  hare,  the  fowl, 

and  the  peacock. 
nmPMHRHVH  Gold  embroidery 
is  but  rarely  found 
in  the  Egyptian 
graves.  It  was, 
however,  a  very  an- 
cient art ;  it  was 
much  used  in  Rome 
under  the  Empire, 
and  just  subse- 
quent to  our  period 
it  was  in  frequent 
use  in  the  decora- 
tion of  the  greater 
basilicas.  In  par- 
ticular, the  cross 
which  ornamented 
the  centre  of  the 
altar  cloth  —  that 
is,  of  the  frontal  — 
was  often  worked 
in  gold,  and  some- 
times embellished 
with  pearls.  Early 
gold  embroidery 
(as  we  learn  from 
the  few  fragments 
which  have  been 
preserved)  was  wrought  with  fine  threads  of  pure  gold ;  later, 
recourse  was  had  to  the  method  which  is  now  common  —  wrap- 
ping a  stout  linen  thread  with  strips  of  parchment  or  paper 
coated  with  gold-leaf.  One  gets  an  idea  of  the  rich  and  heavy 
character  of  Roman  embroidery  in  gold  from  the  representa- 
tions of  the  toga  picta  upon  the  consular  diptychs. 

The  special  interest  of  all  these  textile  designs  lies  in  the 


Fig.  176.- 


-  Curtain  in  the  Victoria  Albert  Museum,  Lon- 
don.    Perhaps  third  century. 


CUB  TAINS  AND   ALTAR   CLOTHS  :;77 

fact  that  they  do  not  represent  merely  the  local  traditions  and 
the  local  art  of  a  little  town  in  Upper  Egypt,  but  the  cosmo- 
politan art  and  custom  of  the  Empire  (see  p.  2).  There  is 
hardly  anything  which  reveals  mure  clearly  the  unity  of  cus- 
tom under  the.  Empire  than  the  fact  that  the  same  garments 
were  worn  and  the  same  patterns  prevailed  in  the  heart  of  the 
Empire  and  in  its  extremest  provinces.  The  factories  of 
Achmini  were  doubtless  intended  to  supply  more  than  a  local 
trade;  they  must  have  received  orders  from  Rome,  and  with 
the  orders  the  Classical  patterns  which  were  to  be  executed. 
It  is  this  which  explains  the  uniformity  of  textile  work 
throughout  the  Empire,  and  the  subversion  —  as  we  see  in  the 
case  of  Egypt  —  of  the  traditions  of  local  art.  Among  all  the 
Egyptian  textiles  there  is  hardly  anything  of  a  purely  Egyp- 
tian character.  The  Oriental  patterns  which  were  later  intro- 
duced were  no  less  cosmopolitan,  for  Oriental  fashions  gained 
acceptance  everywhere. 

Notwithstanding  its  decline  in  taste  and  execution,  textile 
embroidery  in  all  its  branches  had  a  rapid  material  expansion 
in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  ;  in  the  decay  —  the  extinction 
almost  —  of  other  branches  of  pictorial  art,  designs  in  tapestry 
were  more  commonly  used  and  more  broadly  disseminated  than 
ever,  and  they  constituted  the  only  patterns  which  were  sure  to 
be  at  hand  in  all  parts  of  the  Empire  to  guide  the  artisans  who 
were  engaged  in  the  production  of  the  conventional  low  reliefs 
in  stone,  which,  from  the  fifth  to  the  ninth  century,  were  the 
commonest  monumental  expression  of  decorative  art.  The  in- 
spiration and  origin  of  these  stone  reliefs  has  long  been  sought, 
and  from  various  quarters.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  almost 
every  one  of  these  low-relief  designs  which  is  not  distinctly 
derived  from  an  architectural  motive  can  be  matched  by  textile 
patterns  either  of  Classical  or  of  Oriental  origin ;  and  their 
inspiration  from  this  source  can  hardly  now  be  questioned. 

ALTAR   CLOTHS    AND    CHURCH   CURTAINS 

The  foregoing  may  give  an  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  textile 
stuffs  which  were  employed  in  the  decoration  of  the  churches. 
Figures  131, 132, 142,  and  143  show  that  Classical  patterns  were 
the  rule  for  curtains  and  altar  cloths  even  as  late  as  the  sixth 


378 


.vr yon  Anrs 


century.  When  we  read  of  Biblical  scenes  depicted  upon  them, 
we  have  to  recognize  that  they  must,  in  general,  have  been,  like 
those  found  in  Egypt,  of  small  compass,  constituting  mere  de- 
tails of  the  decoration.  It  remains  merely  to  describe  the 
manner  of  the  employment  of  curtains  and  coverings  in  the 
churches. 

In  Classical  times  textile  fabrics  had  as  large  a  use  in  the 
furnishing  of  the  private  house  as  they  have  with  us,  and  their 
use  in  the  basilicas  is  mainly  to  be  explained 
by  the  customs  of  private  life.  They  were 
used  in  the  houses  for  cushions  and  stools,  as 
coverings  for  seats,  for  tables  and  for  the 
wall,  as  curtains  for  the  street  doors,  and  as 
canopies  to  shield  the  atrium  from  the  sun. 
But  beside  this,  curtains  were  generally  used 
instead  of  doors  within  the  house,  and  also 
between  the  columns  of  the  colonnade  which 
shielded  the  sides  of  the  atrium.  All  of  these 
uses  were  repeated  in  the  church :  there  was 
the  stool  and  cushion  for  the  cathedra  of  the 
bishop,  coverings  for  the  seats  of  the  clergy, 
and  for  the  wall  behind  them,  coverings  for 
the  altar  and  for  the  tables,  curtains  for  the 
doors  of  the  church  and  of  the  sacristies ;  and, 
most  important  of  all,  the  curtains  which  were 
hung  between  the  nave  and  the  aisles,  before 
the  presbytery,  and  around  the  ciborium.  This 
lavish  use  of  curtains  was  doubtless  encouraged 
by  the  fact  that  they  were  common  among  the 
Romans  as  well  for  public  as  for  private  use, 
and  were,  in  particular,  an  important  feature 
of  the  decoration  of  the  temples.  The  Liber 
Pontificalis  clearly  enough  indicates  both  the 
lavishness  of  their  employment,  and  the  man- 
ner of  their  use,  in  the  Roman  basilicas  during  the  eighth  and 
ninth  centuries.  Though  the  employment  of  hangings  seems  to 
have  had  a  considerable  development  about  this  time,  the  use 
was  by  no  means  new.  Quite  the  same  use  of  them  is  proved 
for  the  fifth  century  by  the  Charta  Cornutiana  (see  below), 
which  has  the  additional  interest  of  describing  the  furnishing, 


Fig.  177.  —  Part  of 
a  clavus  in  silk 
embroiderj%  from 
Achmim.  Sev- 
enth centurv. 


CURTAINS  AND  ALTAR    CLOTHS 


379 


not  of  a  metropolitan  basilica,  but  of  a  country  church.  The 
use  of  hangings  must,  in  fact,  have  been  fairly  well  fixed  as 
early  as  the  fourth  century;  it  corresponded  to  the  requirements 
of  the  liturgies  of  that  period.  They  became  so  necessary  an 
accessory  of  church  worship,  of  the  Eucharistic  service  espe- 
cially, that  it  is  to  be  wondered  that  the  Western  Church  was 
ultimately  able  so  completely  to  dispense  with  them,  and  with 
the  elaborate  divisions  between  different  classes  of  worshippers 
which  they  marked.  The  credit  of  discarding  all  ftf  this  para- 
phernalia, as  well  as  for  the  abbreviation  and  simplification  of 


<i.—^ 

ik!'*  J 

Ifl 

Jm 

[1 

Fig.  ITS. —Some  details  of  a  scarf  (stole?)  of  the  seventh  century.  Linen  with  silk 
emhroidery  and  patches  of  silk  applique.  The  raising  of  Lazarus,  the  Crucifixion,  Mary 
Magdalene  at  the  sepulchre. 


the  Mass  itself,  is  not  due  (as  is  lightly  asserted)  to  the  "prac- 
tical genius  of  Rome,"  which  had  fallen  completely  under  the 
sway  of  Oriental  custom,  but  to  the  Xorthern  peoples,  particu- 
larly the  Franks,  to  whom  is  due  the  character  of  Mediaeval 
civilization,  and  from  whom  Rome  herself  had  finally  to  bor- 
row the  very  text  of  her  liturgy. 

The  CJiarta  Cornutiana  above  mentioned  is  a  document  of 
very  great  interest  to  Christian  archaeology.1  It  is  a  deed  of 
gift  drawn  up  in  the  year  471  in  favor  of  a  village  church  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Tivoli,  near  Rome.  The  donor.  Flavius 
Valila,  called  Theodorius,  bestows  a  piece  of  ground,  silver 
utensils   to  the  weight  of  about  541   Roman  pounds,   bronze 

1  Printed  by  Duchesne  in  the  introduction  to  the  Liber  Pontijicalis. 


380 


MINOR  ARTS 


chandeliers,  and  three  sets  of  curtains  (of  silk,  half  silk,  and 
linen),  for  high  festivals,  ordinary  feasts,  and  week  days.  The 
Charta  Cornutiana  distinguishes  covers  and  hangings.  The 
covers  (pallea,  mafortes)  'were  used  upon  the  altar,  upon 
the  graves  of  the  saints,  and  upon  the  tables.  The  hangings 
(vela)  were  used  for  all  the  purposes  above  enumerated.  The 
various  colors  of  "  purple  "'  (including  green  and  a  yellowish 
or  whitish  purple)    are  distinguished  with  a  precision  which 

argues  a  Classic  refine- 
ment of  taste  hardly 
to  be  expected  in  that 
age. 

There  are  no  ancient 
monuments  which 
show  so  clearly  the 
character  of  the  early 
altar  coverings  as  the 
sixth  and  seventh  cen- 
tury mosaics  of  Ra- 
venna, represented  by 
Figs.  131  and  132.  The 
altar  here  is  a  table 
standing  upon  four 
legs ;  it  is  covered  on 
all  sides  by  a  white 
linen  cloth,  of  which 
only  the  top  and  front 
are  decorated.  Figure 
132  (sixth  century)  de- 
picts a  heavier  and  darker  cover  under  the  linen.  The  deco- 
ration is  precisely  such  as  we  have  found  among  the  Egyptian 
textiles  ;  it  corresponds  closely  to  that  of  the  curtain  illustrated 
in  Fig.  176,  and  to  a  table  cover  from  Egypt  which  is  pre- 
served in  the  museum  at  Vienna.  We  may  see  in  these  textile 
designs  the  origin  of  many  of  the  stone  reliefs  of  the  subse- 
quent period  ;  for  when  the  altar  assumed  a  box  form,  by  the 
insertion  of  plates  of  stone  between  the  legs,  the  design  com- 
mon upon  the  altar  covers  was  transferred  to-  the  stone,  and 
this  simple  decoration- was  just  as  naturally  extended  to  the 
screens  of  the  choir  and  presbytery  (Fig.  58). 


Fig.  179.  —  Portrait  in  tapestry,  from  Achmim.    About 
sixth  century. 


CURTAINS  AXD  ALTAR    CLOTHS  381 

Of  far  more  importance  are  the  curtains.  The  use  of  cur- 
tains at  the  doors  (Fig.  135)  is  a  matter  which  requires  little 
comment.  On  the  other  hand,  their  use  between  the  columns 
of  the  ciborium  (Fig.  144),  to  hide  from  the  people  the  most 
solemn  acts  of  the  Eucharistic  celebration,  appears  strange  to 
us,  though  it  was  thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the  earty  ritual. 
The  practice  must  have  been  all  but  universal,  and  probably  as 
early  as  the  fourth  century.  At  all  events,  the  earliest  ciboria 
which  have  been  preserved  show  arrangements  for  attaching 
curtain  rods. 

But  this  was  only  a  single  feature  of  an  elaborate  system  for 
excluding  the  different  ranks  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  people 
from  direct  participation  in  the  highest  functions  of  the 
liturgy.  In  many  churches  of  the  fifth  century  which  have 
preserved  their  ancient  columns,  one  can  still  see  the  holes  in 
the  columns  of  the  nave  (on  the  nave  side  and  above  nine  feet 
from  the  floor)  for  the  insertion  of  curtain  rods.  Their  posi- 
tion on  the  nave  side  was  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  in  the 
aisles  the  need  of  room  was  most  felt,  for  it  was  there  the 
laity  stood,  the  men  on  the  right  and  the  women  on  the  left. 
The  fact  that  the  aisles  rather  than  the  nave  was  allotted  to  the 
people  is  one  of  the  indications  that  the  church  in  the  house 
was  the  pattern  of  the  basilica,  for  the  nave  corresponds  to  the 
open  and  unprotected  atrium.  The  use  of  curtains  in  this  place 
seems  likewise  to  reflect  the  custom  of  the  private  house.  In 
the  front  of  the  nave,  occupying  about  half  of  it,  the  choir  and 
lectors  —  that  is,  the  inferior  clergy  —  had  their  place,  which 
was  architecturally  marked  by  screens.  Before  them,  across 
the  whole  front  of  the  presbytery,  was  another  row  of  curtains, 
depending  from  the  columns  which  surmounted  the  balustrade 
of  the  sanctuary.  Behind  the  choir  was  the  place  allotted  to 
the  various  classes  of  catechumens,  and  still  farther  back,  in 
the  vestibule  or  without  the  door,  were  the  penitents.  We 
have  to  suppose,  therefore,  that  another  curtain  was  stretched 
across  the  nave  in  front  of  the  catechumens,  and  that  this  was 
closed  earlier  than  any  of  the  others  —  unless  we  are  to  sup- 
pose that  they  had  a  position  of  greater  dignity  and  privilege 
than  even  the  baptized  members  of  the  church  !  This  division 
of  the  nave  is  in  some  churches  indicated  by  pillars  which 
interrupt  the  lateral  colonnades  in  front  of  and  behind  the  choir 


382  MINOR  ARTS 

(Fig.  38).  At  a  later  period  of  the  service  we  have  to  suppose 
that  the  curtains  of  the  aisles  were  allowed  to  fall,  cutting  off 
the  faithful  from  a  view  of  the  altar  —  a  free  space  between 
the  curtains  and  the  architrave  or  arch  still  admitted  light 
to  the  aisles.  Afterward  were  closed  the  curtains  which  sepa- 
rated the  choir  from  the  sanctuary,  and  finally,  the  curtains  of 
the  ciborium.  The  way  in  which  the  curtains  were  hung  — 
more  particularly  the  way  in  which  they  were  drawn  —  is  very 
well  illustrated  by  Fig.  143.  In  situations  where  freedom  of 
passage  was  not  required,  they  were  simply  knotted  in  the 
middle ;  in  the  doorways  they  were  double  and  were  drawn  to 
each  side  by  cords.  In  Fig.  143  a  single  curtain  in  a  door- 
way is  first  knotted  and  then  fastened  to  the  door  post. 

Something  of  this  mystery  in  ritual  is  still  maintained  in  the 
Eastern  Church  ;  the  Armenians  use  a  curtain  which  is  drawn 
across  the  front  of  the  presbytery  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Canon ;  in  the  Greek  and  Russian  churches  the  curtain  is  re- 
placed by  the  iconostasis,  with  curtains  to  close  the  central 
door. 

Among  the  textile  furnishings  of  the  church  no  mention  has 
been  made  of  carpets,  simply  because  there  is  no  mention  made 
of  them  in  early  texts.  The  mosaic  floor  amply  satisfied  all 
requirements  of  adornment. 


VI 

CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTICAL  DRESS 

This  chapter  has  to  do  with  the  ordinary  civil  dress  of  the 
Christians  during  the  first  six  centuries,  as  well  as  with  the 
dress  which  toward  the  end  of  this  period  distinguished  in 
some  measure  the  clergy  from  the  people,  and  which,  persist- 
ing without  essential  change  throughout  all  the  changes  in 
popular  fashions  of  dress,  became  the  distinctive  liturgical  garb 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  Ecclesiastical  vestments  cannot  be  under- 
stood apart  from  the  study  of  the  common  elements  of  Roman 
civil  dress  out  of  which  they  sprung,  and  the  traditions  of 
which  they  continued.  The  two  subjects  are  bound  together 
still  more  closely  by  the  fact  that  the  distinction  between  the 
clergy  and  the  people  on  the  one  hand,  and  between  the 
different  ranks  of  the  clergy  on  the  other,  hardly  became 
marked  in  the  dress  before  the  sixth  century,  and  that  not 
even  then,  nor  for  a  long  while  to  come,  was  the  everyday 
dress  of  the  clergy  distinguished  from  that  which  they  wore 
in  the  ministrations  of  the  Church. 

The  Romans  were  accustomed  to  mark  certain  distinctions 
in  rank  by  variety  in  dress,  that  is,  by  some  special  cut  or 
adornment  of  the  simple  and  universal  constituents  of  Classic 
dress,  rather  than  by  the  exclusive  use  of  a  particular  garment. 
With  the  increasing  luxury  of  the  Empire,  and  with  the 
change  and  variety  of  the  fashions  which  were  introduced,  the 
early  distinctions  became  more  and  more  difficult  to  observe. 
But  this  very  development  of  new  types  of  dress,  and  the  gen- 
eral introduction  in  the  third  century  of  Oriental  garments 
which  were  entirely  foreign  to  Roman  use,  constituted  the 
basis  for  new  and  more  thoroughgoing  distinctions  between  the 
different  ranks  and  professions.  The  law  tried  in  various 
ways,  and  for  the  most  part  in  vain,  to  regulate  the  use  of  new 
and  foreign  garments ;  and  finally  the  sumptuary  law  of  the 

383 


384  DUE  8 8 

year  382  prescribed   minutely  the  garments  which  might  be 

worn  by  different  classes,  both  indoors  and  out. 

The  I  In  i>t  inns,  of  course,  wore  the  same  dress  as  the  pagans. 
And  as  for  the  officers  of  the  Church,  there  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  they  were  distinguished  from  the  people  by  any 
essential  difference  in  dress  until  the  middle,  or  more  prob- 
ably the  end,  of  the  fifth  century.  We  have  to  suppose 
merely  that  the  higher  clergy,  and  especially  the  bishops, 
adopted  in  general  a  style  of  dress  which  comported  with  their 
social  dignity. 

However,  by  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Byzantine  spirit  of  minute  classification  which 
prescribed  a  uniform  for  almost  all  classes  in  the  Empire, 
clerical  dress  became  distinctly  and  permanently  fixed  in  its 
chief  lines,  marking  the  distinctions  between  the  different 
orders  of  the  clergy  as  well  as  between  clergy  and  people.  It 
became  then  such  as  we  see  it  in  the  mosaics  of  the  middle  of 
the  sixth  century  in  Ravenna,  and  in  those  of  a  century  later 
in  the  Lateran  baptistery  in  Rome. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  this  was  a  distinc- 
tively sacred  dress,  appropriated  exclusively  to  priestly  minis- 
trations in  the  Church :  it  was  the  uniform  of  a  particular 
class  in  the  community  —  the  clergy  —  who  were  thus  distin- 
guished just  in  the  same  way  as  were  the  courtiers,  the  soldiers, 
and  other  officers  of  the  Empire  who  are  represented  on  the 
same  monuments.  And  though  the  clerical  dress  was  then 
fixed  upon  lines  which  have  been  maintained  without  essential 
change  to  the  present  day,  it  was  not  at  first  so  thoroughly  dis- 
tinctive as  one  might  suppose ;  for  it  is  clear  that  the  chief 
garments  of  which  it  was  composed  —  that  is,  the  tunic,  the 
paenula,  and  the  dalmatic  —  were  still,  and  for  a  long  time 
continued  to  be,  in  common  use.  It  must  have  been  merely 
minor  differences  of  shape,  the  conservation  of  an  antique 
fashion,  which  marked  the  distinction  of  clerical  dress  at  the 
end  of  the  period  which  we  have  to  study.  It  does  not  lie 
within  the  scope  of  this  handbook  to  follow  the  modifications 
of  this  dress  through  the  Middle  Ages,  still  less  to  note  the 
additions  which  were  made  to  it.  Such  as  we  find  the  clerical 
dress  at  the  end  of  our  period,  such  it  remained  without  sub- 
stantial change.     This  persistence  of  the  Classical  mode  of 


IN  GENEBAL 

dress  is  an  interesting  proof  of  the  force  of  religious  conser- 
vatism.    Changes  there  undoubtedly  were,  but  not  so  much  in 

the  form  of  the  gar uts  as  in  the  whole  conception  of  the 

significance  of  ecclesiastical  vestments.  They  became  more 
distinctive  as  the  fashion  of  civil  life  adopted  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent costume.  They  acquired  a  new  and  sacred  significance 
as  the  clergy  themselves  adopted  for  ordinary  use  a  costume 
more  consonant  with  the  fashion  of  the  times,  and  relegated 
the  traditional  dress  exclusively  to  the  sacred  functions  of  the 
Church.  And  with  this,  as  they  ceased  to  be  virtual  garments 
for  protection  against  rain  and  cold,  their  shape  in  some  degree 
was  altered,  and  their  material  and  the  character  of  their 
adornment  were  adapted  to  the  new  situation. 

Such,  in  the  most  general  terms,  is  the  account  of  the  origin, 
and  development  of  ecclesiastical  vestments.  The  origin  of 
every  vestment  of  the  Church  was  a  perfectly  natural  and  his- 
torical one.  The  symbolical  explanations  which  from  the 
ninth  century  were  commonly  given  of  them  —  of  their  very 
colors,  fringes,  and  ornaments  —  have  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  their  actual  development.  Such  symbolism,  was,  from  the 
first,  not  onlj  very  elaborate  and  forced,  but  very  various  and 
contradictory  :  it  was  a  case  in  which  every  one  felt  at  liberty 
to  please  himself.  But  the  explanations  of-  the  archaeologist 
have  commonly  been  hardly  more  to  the  point.  There  is  no 
branch  of  Christian  archaeology  in  which  there  has  reigned  so 
much  error,  so  much  confusion  and  contradiction,  as  in  the  his- 
tory of  vestments.  As  a  starting-point,  the  ecclesiastical  vest- 
ments are  thoroughly  known  in  the  form  which  they  had 
assumed  by  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  error  which  has 
foiled  most  attempts  to  trace  them  back  to  their  origins  has 
been  due,  in  part  to  a  blind  reliance  upon  the  mediaeval  expla- 
nation and  valuation  of  them,  and  in  part  to  the  preconceived 
notion  that  they  are  all  alike  to  be  traced  back  to  primitive 
custom  and  to  a  primitive  discrimination  between  religious  and 
secular  dress,  or,  as  it  used  to  be  claimed,  to  the  dress  of  the 
Jewish  priesthood.  But  even  when  the  problem  has  been 
approached  with  a  fair  appreciation  of  its  terms,  a  detailed 
explanation  of  the  origin  of  each  vestment  remained  impos- 
sible as  long  as  the  testimony  of  the  monuments,  at  least 
those  of  the  early  period,  was  all  but  ignored,  and  even  the 
2c 


386  DRESS 

common  elements  of  Classical  dress  were  but  vaguely  under- 
stood. 

Wilpert1  is  the  first  who  has  made  serious  use  of  one  of  the 
most  important  sources  of  information  upon  our  study,  the 
paintings  of  the  catacombs.  They  enable  us  to  follow  the  his- 
tory of  dress  from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  period  down 
to  the  Middle  Ages.  Their  testimony  is  the  more  valuable  be- 
cause pagan  paintings  are  so  rare  for  the  second,  third,  and 
fourth  centuries.  It  is  supplemented,  however,  even  for  this 
period,  by  both  pagan  and  Christian  sculpture;  for  a  latter 
period,  by  the  mosaics;  and  for  the  period  which  lies  just  be- 
yond the  range  of  our  study,  by  the  miniatures  of  liturgical 
manuscripts.  The  rich  store  of  textiles  lately  found  in  Egypt, 
which  has  already  been  described  in  the  previous  chapter,  is 
another  source  of  information  which  is  by  itself  sufficient  to 
put  before  us  an  almost  complete  picture  of  the  dress  common 
in  the  Empire  from  the  second  to  the  seventh  century.  What  has 
already  been  said  on  this  score  will  serve  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
material,  texture,  color,  and  still  more  definitely  of  the  adorn- 
ment, of  the  several  garments  which  we  have  now  to  study  in 
detail. 

Before  taking  up  in  detail  the  principal  garments  of  the  Clas- 
sical period  which  explain  the  origin  of  the  liturgical  vestments 
of  the  Church,  it  is  necessary  to  devote  a  few  words  to  several 
important  but  subordinate  elements  of  dress.,  both  Classic  and 
barbaric,  which  are  represented  on  the  monuments  illustrated 
in  this  book. 

It  is  well  known  that,  according  to  Greek  and  Eoman  custom, 
men  commonly  wore  no  head-dress.  In  the  act  of  sacrifice  they 
covered  the  head  with  the  border  of  the  pallium  or  toga,  and  in 
the  same  way,  perhaps,  they  protected  themselves  against  the 
rain.  It  was  only  those  who  were  especially  exposed  to  the 
sun  —  as  fishermen,  farm  laborers,  and  messengers  —  who  wore 
a  broad-brimmed  hat  {petasim)  such  as  that  with  which  Mercury 
is  represented.  A  mere  skullcap  is  worn  by  the  fisherman  on 
a  sarcophagus  in  the  Lateran  (Fig.  94). 

A  head-dress  of  some  sort  was,  however,  worn  by  most  of 
the  barbarian  peoples  to  the  north  and  to  the  east  of  the  Em- 

xIn  his  Capitolo  di  storia  del  vestiario,  and  Die  Gewandung  der  Christen, 
to  which  the  present  chapter  is  much  indebted. 


IN  d  EX  Ell  AL  387 

pire.  On  the  Christian  sarcophagi,  in  scenes  from  New  and 
Old  Testament  alike,  the  Jews  are  distinguished  by  a  close-fit- 
ting brimless  cap  (Figs.  95,  99).  The  same  sort  of  cap  -was  worn 
by  some  of  the  races  of  the  North  of  Europe,  and  by  two  fos- 
sors  as  represented  in  frescos  of  the  catacombs.  This  was  the 
pilleus  (ttiAos),  made  of  felt,  leather,  or  wool,  and  used  by  those 
who  were  exposed  to  stress  of  weather,  or  by  old  men.  S.  Je- 
rome, in  thanking  Paulinus  of  Antioch  for  the  gift  of  such  a  cap, 
speaks  of  it  as  intended  to  warm  his  aged  head.1 

For  mere  protection  against  the  weather,  nothing  more  was 
required  than  the  hood  which  was  attached  both  to  the  pcenula 
and  to  the  birrus.  It  is  from  this  latter  garment  the  monkish 
costume  was  probably  derived  —  therefore  also  the  academic 
gown  and  hood. 

The  most  notable  head-dress  of  ancient  times  was  the  Phryg- 
ian cap.  Something  similar,  but  rather  formless  and  without 
decoration,  was  worn  by  the  Dacians  and  Germans,  as  they  are 
represented  upon  Koman  monuments.  The  real  Phrygian  cap 
was  conventionally  used  in  Roman  art  to  represent  the  costume 
of  the  extreme  Orient.  The  Three  Children  and  the  Magi  are 
therefore  always  represented  in  Phrygian  garb  (Figs.  68,  86, 
89),  as  Daniel  also  often  is.  The  Phrygian  cap  has  a  special 
interest  in  the  history  of  ecclesiastical  vestments ;  for,  though 
no  cap  appears  within  our  period  as  a  part  of  the  clerical  dress, 
and  though  the  development  of  a  bonnet  as  the  special  insig- 
nium  of  the  bishop  belongs  to  the  Middle  Ages,  it  is  from  this 
pattern  all  such  head-gear  was  derived,  whether  it  be  the  epis- 
copal mitre,  the  papal  tiara,  or  the  doge's  hat. 

For  women,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  as  much  required  by 
Graeco-Roman  custom  that  they  should  appear  with  head  cov- 
ered, as  it  was  that  men  should  be  bareheaded.  In  early  times 
the  woman  covered  her  head  simply  with  the  border  of  the 
palla.  For  greater  convenience  the  veil  was  later  introduced. 
There  are  a  number  of  veils  among  the  finds  at  Achmim  which 
accord  perfectly  with  the  representations  in  the  frescos  of  the 
catacombs  (Figs.  15,  65,  66,  68,  70,  84,  124,  139).  The  veil 
was  a  rectangular  cloth,  —  those  from  Achmim  are  of  wool 
very  lightly  woven,  —  broad  enough  to  cover  the  top  and  back 
of  the  head,  and  long  enough  to  hang  down  for  some  distance 

lEp.  85,  Migne  XXII.   754. 


388  DBESS 

in  front  of  the  shoulders  on  each  side.  The  veil  was  properly 
the  sigD  of  the  matron,  but  already  in  the  third  century  it  was 
used  in  the  Church  in  the  ceremony  of  dedicating  a  Christian 
virgin  to  God  (Fig.  85).  Among  the  pictures  of  the  catacombs 
which  represent  a  veiled  woman  it  is  usually  impossible  to 
decide  whether  the  artist  would  designate  the  deceased  as  a 
matron  or  as  a  dedicated  virgin ;  the  inscriptions,  which  alone 
could  indicate,  have  for  the  most  part  been  destroyed. 

The  Classical  foot-gear  is  seldom  represented  with  enough 
precision  either  on  Christian  or  pagan  monuments  to  give  an 
adequate  idea  of  its  character.  The  distinction  most  readily 
noticed  is  that  between  the  sandal  (solea,  o-avSaAtov)  which  went 
commonly  with  the  pallium,  and  the  shoe  (calceus)  which  went 
specially  with  the  toga  and  denoted  the  dignity  of  the  Roman 
citizen.  For  women,  modesty  strictly  prescribed  the  shoe.  It 
has  never  been  possible  to  understand  the  distinctions  between 
the  many  different  kinds  of  shoe  which  were  in  use  and  which 
are  referred  to  in  Latin  literature,  till  the  recent  finds  in 
Egypt  (particularly  the  excavations  which  were  conducted  at 
Antinoe  at  the  expense  of  the  Musee  Guimet  of  Paris  and  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Lyons),  which  have  brought  to  light 
a  great  number  of  shoes  of  all  periods,  and  illustrate  unexpect- 
edly the  perfection  of  ancient  leather  work.  These  finds  have 
not  yet  been  seriously  studied,  and  at  all  events  they  cannot 
detain  us  here.  That  other  sorts  of  foot  covering  were  common 
among  the  lower  classes  we  see  in  the  pictures  of  the  Good 
Shepherd,  who  is  represented  with  long  heavy  stockings  which 
serve  at  the  same  time  as  shoes,  or  else  with  leggins  made  of 
a  narrow  band  of  cloth  wound  about  the  lower  leg  and  fastened 
beneath  the  knee  (Figs.  69,  162). 

An  article  of  apparel  which  must  always  be  understood  as 
accompanying  the  Classical  dress  was  the  breech-cloth  (cinctus, 
7reptt,w/xa),  or  the  loin  cloth  (ventrale,  KoiAidSeoTxos).  Without  at 
least  such  a  garment,  the  law  forbade  any  appearance  in  public ; 
and  when  it  is  reported  that  certain  martyrs  were  thrown  naked 
to  the  wild  beasts,  it  is  still  to  be  presumed  that  this  garment  was 
retained.  The  first  garment  was  the  more  scanty,  and  was  the 
same  for  men  and  for  women.  The  clothing  of  the  Baptist  is 
limited  to  this  in  one  of  the  pictures  of  the  Sacrament  Chapels, 
as  is  that  of  Daniel  in  several  frescos  of  the  fourth  century. 


THE   TUNIC  389 

The  ventrale  was  a  broad  band  of  cloth  so  adjusted  that  the 
ends  hung  down  before.  In  Classic  art  it  was  mostly  attributed 
to  fishermen ;  Tobias  wears  it  in  a  fresco  in  the  cemetery  of 
Thrason.1  Christ  also  wears  it  in  some  of  the  representations 
of  the  crucifixion  (Figs.  108,  109). 

The  Romans  expressly  associated  trousers  (braccce)  with  the 
costume  of  the  barbarians.  Very  loose  trousers  tied  at  the 
ankle  were  worn  by  the  Germanic  tribes  as  represented  on 
the  Roman  monuments.  The  Jews  were  represented  on  the 
Christian  sarcophagi  in  a  similar  garment  (Figs.  96,  99).  A 
close-fitting  pantaloon  reaching  to  the  ankle  was  a  peculiarity 
of  the  Phrygian  costume  (Figs.  68,  86,  89,  139).  But  notwith- 
standing the  prejudice  against  this  article  of  dress,  it  became 
common  in  Rome  in  the  third  century,  and  was  worn  even  by 
the  emperors ;  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  a  special  law  of  Arca- 
dius  and  Honorius  prohibited  its  use  within  the  city.  Though 
this  barbarous  garment  is  the  precursor  of  modern  male  attire, 
it  needs  no  more  notice  here,  as  it  has  no  relation  to  the  devel- 
opment of  ecclesiastical  dress. 

THE   TUNIC 

The  composition  of  ancient  dress  is  fundamentally  a  very 
simple  matter.  Out  of  an  oblong  piece  of  cloth,  preferably  of 
wool,  taken  just  as  it  comes  from  the  loom,  and  without  any 
cutting,  ripping,  or  stitching,  one  can  reproduce  completely 
the  ancient  costume,  which  was  substantially  the  same  for 
both  men  and  women.  The  only  fundamental  distinction  to 
be  drawn  is  that  between  the  under  and  the  outer  garment, 
and  they  both  are  formed  from  such  a  piece  of  cloth  merely  by 
a  different  manner  of  applying  it  and  attaching  it  to  the  body. 
The  under  garment  was  closely  fitting  and  securely  attached, 
—  later  it  came  to  be  sewed.  The  outer  garment  was  merely 
thrown  about  the  body.  They  may  be  called  respectively 
shirt  and  cloak  —  the  most  general  terms  to  designate  them  in 
Greek  were  ZvSvfxa  and  k-n-t^Xrjixa,  or  ^trwv  and  Lfxanov.2 

This  describes  as  aptly  the  early  Roman  dress  as  the  Greek. 

1  Garrucci,  Storia,  II.  tar.  73,  2. 

2  Alex.  Ccmze,  Die  Antike  Geicandung,  in  Teirichs  Blatter/.  Kunstgeicerbe, 
1875,  p.  62  seq. 


800  DliESS 

Its  application  to  the  toga  and  pallium  is  at  once  evident;  it 
is  not  so  clear  that  it  accounts  for  the  different  forms  of  the 
tunic  or  shirt.  But,  in  fact,  in  its  original  form,  the  tunic 
(tunica,  xlT^v)  was  merely  such  a  strip  of  cloth  as  has  been 
described,  of  a  width  corresponding  to  the  height  of  the  per- 
son or  the  style  of  the  garment  (that  is  as  it  ended  at  or  below 
the  knee),  and  of  a  length  just  sufficient  to  wrap  once  around 
the  body  below  the  arms  ;  —  what  is  here  called  the  length  was 
of  course  the  smallest  dimension  in  the  case  of  the  tunica 
talaris.  It  might  be  fastened  by  two  fibulae  above  the  shoulders, 
and  again  under  the  right  arm,  that  is,  on  the  side  where  the 
two  extreme  edges  met.  Substitute  for  the  pins  permanent 
stitches,  and  the  garment  had  distinctly  the  form  of  a  shirt 
without  sleeves.  The  tunic  of  the  laboring  classes,  particularly 
of  slaves,  commonly  omitted  one  of  these  fastenings,  leaving 
the  right  shoulder  bare  and  the  arm  free.  Such  a  garment  was 
called  tunica  exomis  (e^w/xts) ;  it  is  represented  in  the  catacombs 
as  the  dress  of  the  fossors,  and  of  the  Good  Shepherd  in  the 
earliest  pictures  (Figs.  19,  117,  cf.  131,  132).  The  tunic  was 
usually  girdled  (tunica  cincta),  and  if  the  girdle  might  for  con- 
venience be  laid  aside  in  the  house,  respectability  required  that 
it  be  worn  in  public.  In  this  matter,  however,  custom  differed ; 
the  un girdled  tunic  was  the  common  habit  in  Africa,  and  was 
used  sometimes  in  Rome  under  the  Empire,  where  almost  every 
foreign  custom  was  represented.  The  tunica  laticlavia,  worn  by 
senators,  was  properly  ungirdled.  The  girdled  tunic  was  both 
larger  and  longer  than  the  ungirdled,  to  allow  for  the  laps  and 
folds,  which  must  be  arranged  with  much  nicety  —  especially 
having  a  care  that  the  clavus  descend  straight.  The  length  of 
the  tunic  was  regulated  by  the  girdle ;  it  must  reach  in  front 
a  little  below  the  knees,  and  behind  as  far  as  the  calves  of  the 
leg.  Soldiers  wore  it  shorter,  and  women  longer,  —  down  to 
the  ankles  (Figs.  7,  12,  66,  132,  133, 169). 

The  tunic  was  the  indoor  garment  of  the  Roman ;  by  itself 
it  answered  very  well  the  practical  requirements  of  dress,  and 
to  appear  with  it  in  public  was  counted,  not  indecent,  but 
merely  undignified.  It  took  the  place  at  once  of  our  shirt  and 
coat.  It  was  usually  of  wool ;  or  in  Southern  countries  of  linen, 
as  in  a  later  period  it  came  to  be  frequently  in  Rome  itself. 
Under  it  was  commonly  worn  (besides  a  loin  cloth  or  short 


THE   TUNIC  391 

hose)  a  second  tunic,  or  undershirt,  of  linen.  S.  Augustine, 
it  is  especially  noted,  wore  a  woollen  undershirt.  Augustus, 
with  a  still  greater  solicitude  for  his  health,  clothed  himself 
in  winter  with  a  heavy  toga,  lour  tunics,  an  undershirt,  a 
woollen  chest  cloth,  short  hose,  and  leggins.  This  was  an 
abnormal  case ;  but  it  shows,  nevertheless,  that  the  need  of 
clothing  was  much  more  strongly  felt  by  the  Romans  than  the 
multitude  of  naked  and  half-naked  statues  would  lead  one  to 
suppose. 

Linen  tunics  were  seldom  colored,  as  the  material  does  not 
readily  take  a  dye.  Those  which  are  found  in  Egypt  are  com- 
monly unbleached.  We  learn  from  literary  references  that  it 
was  the  linen  tunic  especially  which  was  adopted  in  the  minis- 
trations of  the  Church,  at  least  by  the  fourth  century.  But 
whether  of  linen  or  of  wool,  it  was  commonly  pure  white.  This 
color  is  the  natural  symbol  of  purity  and  light,  and  the  New 
Testament  itself  expressly  associates  it  with  the  dress  of  the 
saints  in  heaven.  In  the  catacomb  frescos,  however,  this  sym- 
bolism is  observed  only  in  the  case  of  the  male  figures,  or  more 
strictly  the  sacred  personages,  who  were  clad  in  pallium  and 
tunic.  In  other  cases  the  tunics  are  usually  painted  a  yellowish 
or  reddish  brown,  of  a  lighter  shade,  but  of  substantially  the 
same  coloring,  as  the  dalmatic  and  the  psenula.  Far  more  exact 
and  reliable  information  about  the  actual  color  of  the  garments 
is  to  be  derived  from  the  Egyptian  finds.  As  has  been  said, 
most  of  the  tunics  found  in  Egypt  were  of  linen ;  but  even  the 
woollen  ones  were  in  shades  light  enough  to  mark  a  strong  con- 
trast with  the  purple  decorations,  that  is,  with  the  clavus  or 
with  the  border.  The  finest  coloring  is  found  in  the  tapestry 
decorations  of  the  garments ;  the  garments  themselves  were 
frequently  of  the  natural  color  —  yellow  or  brown  —  of  the 
finer  wools.  During  the  Roman  period  the  dyed  garments, 
like  the  tapestry,  were  almost  always  in  one  or  another  of  the 
various  shades  which  were  known  as  purple  —  dark  carmine 
red,  dark  reddish  brown,  or  shades  which  ran  from  violet  to 
dark  blue.  By  the  fourth  century,  the  Oriental  luxury  in  color 
prevailed  over  the  refined  classic  taste  with  the  introduction  of 
countless  shades  and  combinations.  Though  the  garment  was 
still  usually  of  one  solid  color,  the  tunic  and  dalmatic  were  not 
infrequently  embroidered  all  over,  or  stamped,  with  flowers  or 


392  Ml  ESS 

conventional  designs.     The  purple  toga  embroidered  with  gold 
was  the  special  insignium  of  the  consul. 

But  the  characteristic  decoration  of  the  tunic,  and  later  of 
the  dalmatic,  was  the  davits  —  a  strip  which  crossed  each 
shoulder  and  descended  both  before  and  behind  as  far  as  the 
bottom  of  the  garment.  Already  in  the  previous  chapter 
enough  has  been  said  of  the  character  of  the  embroidery,  or 
rather  tapestry,  which  constituted  the  clavus  (p.  372).  It  is 
well  known  that  the  narrow  clavus  was  worn  by  knights,  and 
the  broad  clavus  by  senators ;  but  these  distinctions  of  rank 
could  hardly  have  been  rigidly  observed  in  the  Christian 
period,  for  the  narrow  clavus  at  least  was  the  usual  adornment 
of  the  tunics  which  are  found  in  Egypt,  and  after  the  fourth 
century  female  characters  are  frequently  represented  in  the 
art  of  the  catacombs  with  the  broad  clavus.  Tor  the  first  three 
centuries,  too,  it  was  invariably  of  purple ;  so  that  even  this 
color  did  not  mark  very  definitely  distinctions  of  rank.  The 
form  of  clavus  which  we  find  most  commonly  on  the  Egyptian 
textiles,  instead  of  extending  to  the  seam,  ended  with  some 
appropriate  terminal  ornament  about  the  middle  of  the  gar- 
ment. Still  later  it  became  even  shorter ;  it  took  in  fact  an 
entirely  different  character,  extending  barely  to  the  breast,  and 
terminating  with  a  round  or  leaf-shaped  finial.  In  this  orna- 
ment we  have  the  so-called  lorum,  which  represented  the  straps 
for  the  support  of  the  soldier's  cuirass ;  it  was,  therefore,  used 
only  on  male  garments,  and,  like  our  shoulder  straps,  was  a 
sign  of  rank,  different  grades  being  distinguished  by  the  num- 
ber of  the  stripes  (tunicce  monolores,  dilores,  trilores,  etc.).  The 
dalmatic,  which  later  came  into  fashion  and  covered  the  tunic, 
was  simply  a  different  variety  of  the  same  garment,  and  the 
characteristic  decoration  of  the  tunic,  which  was  no  longer  visi- 
ble, was  readily  transferred  to  it.  In  revenge,  the  tunic  became 
more  richly  ornamented  at  the  borders,  which  were  still  visi- 
ble ;  that  is,  about  the  neck,  about  the  wrists,  and  at  the  bottom. 
The  segmentum  (Figs.  170,  172,  179,  181),  was  a  round,  square, 
or  irregular  figure  in  tapestry  applied  at  the  lower  corners  of 
the  tunic  (afterward  to  the  dalmatic)  and  above  the  shoulders. 
The  segmentum,  in  this  form  or  in  the  shape  of  a  letter,  con- 
stituted the  only  ornament  of  the  pallium ;  it  was  used  only 
at  the  four  corners  (Figs.  135,  138).     These  ornaments  have 


THE   TUNIC  393 

an  interest  in  the  history  of  church  vestments  only  as  they 
survived  as  the  decoration  of  the  dalmatic;  the  tunic  as  it  was 
worn  in  the  sixth  century  was  often  figured  all  over  with  a 
small  design  regularly  repeated,  but  it  retained  none  of  its 
earlier  characteristic  adornment  except  the  embroidered  border. 

Under  the  Empire  the  tunic  was  generally  worn  with  sleeves, 
usually  loose  and  covering  no  more  than  the  upper  arm.  The 
tight,  long  sleeves  reaching  to  the  wrist  was  an  Oriental  fash- 
ion (therefore  worn  by  the  Magi,  etc.,  Figs.  68,  95,  132).  It 
was  regarded  as  effeminate  by  the  Romans,  but  it  came,  never- 
theless, into  common  use  before  the  third  century.  To  the  long 
sleeves  there  usually  corresponded  the  long  tunic  {tunica  talaris), 
reaching  to  the  ankles.  This  was  likewise  accounted  effemi- 
nate by  the  Romans  at  the  end  of  the  Republic,  as  it  was  prop- 
erly the  woman's  dress ;  but  despite  this  contempt  it  was 
represented  as  the  garment  of  gods  and  heroes,  and  under  the 
Empire  it  seems  to  have  been  accounted  a  dress  of  special  dig- 
nity. This  was  so  at  all  events  in  the  fourth  century,  for  on 
the  arch  of  Constantine  the  Emperor  and  his  court  are  repre- 
sented in  the  long  tunic,  while  the  short  tunic  is  the  dress  of 
the  people.  In  the  second-century  fresco  in  S.  Priscilla  which 
represents  the  Breaking  of  Bread  the  bishop  or  presbyter  wears 
under  the  pallium  the  tunica  talaris  with  long  sleeves  (Fig.  74); 
and  the  famous  statue  of  S.  Hippolytus  (Fig.  118),  which  was 
executed  at  the  beginning  of  the  third,  reproduces  the  same 
dress.  The  tunic,  substantially  with  the  same  form  and  with  the 
same  decoration,  was  the  dress  alike  of  pagan  and  Christian,  of 
clergy  and  laity ;  but  to  judge  by  the  above  instances  it  would 
seem  as  if  the  tunic  of  the  higher  clergy  may  very  early  have 
been  differentiated  from  the  common  dress  in  the  single  re- 
spect that  it  was  longer.  Long  it  certainly  was  for  all  the 
clergy  alike  after  the  fourth  century  (Figs.  134,  142),  for  the 
long  tunic  was  then  the  dress  of  the  better  classes.  This  was 
the  form  it  retained  during  the  Byzantine  pei*iod,  and  it  suf- 
fered no  modification  till  late  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Both  literary  references  and  the  mosaics  represent  that  the 
tunic  which  was  worn  in  the  ministrations  of  the  Church  — 
whether  of  linen  or  of  wool  —  was  commonly  white.  The  name 
"  alb  "  (alba,  —  tunica  alba)  it  bore  from  an  early  time,  though 
it  was  only  in  the  late  Middle  Ages  that  the  adjective  quite 


894  DEESS 

superseded  the  noun.  Though  S.  Jerome  writes  that  "the  holy 
religion  has  one  dress  for  divine  service  and  another  for  every- 
day use,"  he  cannot  be  supposed  to  intend  any  difference  in 
form.  This  is  proved,  quite  apart  from  the  monuments,  by  the 
rules  which  it  was  found  necessary  to  make  till  well  into  the 
Middle  Ages  against  the  use  of  the  everyday  tunic  in  the  ser- 
vices of  the  Church,  as  well  as  against  the  use  of  the  liturgical 
tunic  apart  from  such  services.  The  difference  must  have  been 
a  very  slight  one,  much  like  that  between  our  Sunday  and  our 
workday  clothes.  In  fact  Jerome  himself  declares  explicitly 
how  he  would  have  the  difference  understood,  when  he  says  in 
the  same  connection :  "  that  we  ought  not  to  enter  the  holy  of 
holies  with  everyday  clothes,  but  with  a  clean  conscience  and 
with  clean  clothes  to  administer  the  sacraments  of  the  Lord."  1 

THE   DALMATIC 

The  dalmatic  (dalmatica,  8aX/j.aTiKi])  is  substantially  nothing 
more  than  a  particular  variety  of  the  ungirdled  tunic.  It  was 
not,  however,  one  of  the  original  Roman  garments,  but,  as  its 
name  indicates,  a  foreign  importation.  The  Dalmatians  wTere 
in  Classical  times,  as  they  are  now,  famous  for  the  rich  and 
skilful  decoration  of  their  garments.  It  is  interesting  to  ob- 
serve that  they  have  preserved  the  same  technic  of  figured  tap- 
estry which  we  have  studied  in  connection  with  the  Egyptian 
textiles.  The  dalmatic  was,  therefore,  from  the  first  a  richly 
ornamented  garment ;  it  not  only  took  over  the  characteristic 
ornaments  of  the  tunic,  but  its  whole  surface  was  frequently 
woven  or  embroidered  in  design.  The  tunic  which  was  espe- 
cially associated  with  the  dalmatic  was  the  long-sleeved  tunica 
talaris.  The  dalmatic  as  it  was  worn  by  men  extended  barely 
below  the  knees,  leaving  visible  the  bottom  of  the  tunic ;  its 
large  neck  opening  and  short  loose  sleeves  left  also  the  sleeves 
and  collar  of  the  tunic  visible,  so  that  both  garments  can  be 
recognized  at  once  in  pictorial  representations.  The  woman's 
dalmatic  reached  to  the  ankles  (Fig.  15),  and  after  the  fourth 
century  even  to  the  ground  ;  the  sleeves  were  larger  and  some- 
times fringed.  Just  as  in  the  case  of  the  tunic,  the  male  cos- 
tume was  finally  assimilated  to  the  female,  not  only  in  length, 

i-InEzech.  13:44. 


THE  DALMATIC  396 

but  in  the  exaggerated  largeness  of  the  sleeves.  It  is  this  late 
form  of  dalmatic  which  is  represented  as  the  clerical  dress  in 
the  mosaics  of  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries,  and  such  it 
remained  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  (Figs.  134,  142,  181). 
The  one  feature  of  the  dalmatic  which  was  not  subject  to 
change  was  the  purple  clavus,  which  extended  both  before  and 
behind  as  far  as  the  seam.  The  clerical  dalmatic  was  usually 
white. 

The  dalmatic  came  into  use  in  Rome  about  the  end  of 
the  second  century ;  it  is  specially  remarked  that  Commodus 
appeared  with  it  in  public,  and  the  imperial  example  must 
soon  have  found  many  imitators.  It  was  particularly  well 
adapted  for  the  rich  decoration  which  became  the  fashion  of 
dress  in  the  third  century,  for,  though  distinctly  an  outer  gar- 
ment, to  be  laid  aside  in  the  house,  if  was  by  no  means  a  storm 
coat ;  over  it  could  be  worn  in  cold  or  wet  weather  the  toga, 
the  pallium,  the  paenula,  or  the  lacerna.  So,  for  instance,  on 
the  consular  diptychs  the  toga  picta  is  worn  over  a  richly 
embroidered  dalmatic ;  and  in  the  episcopal  dress  the  dalmatic 
was  worn  under  the  paenula.  The  earliest  example  of  the 
latter  is  furnished  by  the  figure  of  S.  Ambrose  in  a  mosaic  in 
Milan,  which  must  have  been  executed  immediately  after  his 
death  (397),  and  which  is  the  earliest  representation  of  a  bishop 
which  exists.  We  have  later  examples  in  the  mosaics  of 
Ravenna  (Figs.  134,  142,  cf.  181)  and  in  the  fresco  at  the 
tomb  of  Pope  Cornelius  (Fig.  180). 

The  dalmatic  might  be  of  linen  or  of  wool.  The  material 
perhaps  varied  with  the  season,  but  to  judge  by  the  garments 
preserved  in  Egypt  it  was  much  more  commonly  of  linen, 
which  was  often  woven  heavy  enough  even  for  a  cold  climate. 
In  the  case  of  a  linen  garment  the  figured  decoration  in  tapes- 
try was  woven  into  the  cloth  itself,  whereas  upon  a  woollen 
garment  it  was  merely  applique. 

The  earliest  monuments  which  picture  the  dalmatic  as  the 
dress  of  the  deacons  are  the  mosaics  of  Ravenna  of  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century.  It  is  probable  that  it  was  much  earlier 
appropriated  to  this  order.  The  Liber  Pontificalis  ascribes  to 
Sylvester  the  regulation  that  deacons  should  wear  the  dalmatic 
in  the  church.  This  testimony  is  not  of  much  force,  though  it 
is  not  inherently  improbable.     In  the  Life  of  S.  Ccesarius  of 


896  DRESS 

Aries  it,  is  related  that  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  the 
saint,  to  Rome  there  was  given  to  him  by  Pope  Symmachus 
(498-519)  the  privilege  of  wearing  the  pallium,  and  to  his 
deacons  that  of  wearing  the  dalmatic,  as  was  the  custom  in  the 
Roman  Church.  From  this  it  appears  that  at  the  latest  about 
the  turn  of  the  tilth  and  sixth  centuries  the  dalmatic  was  worn 
by  the  deacons  of  Home,  and  the  monuments  above  referred  to 
prove  that  it  must  very  soon  after  this  have  been  generally 
adopted.  We  have  seen  that  it  was  also  worn  by  bishops ;  in 
this  case  it  was  somewhat  shorter  and  more  nearly  after  the 
early  pattern.  So  general  was  its  use  by  the  bishops  that 
S.  Isiclor  of  Seville  actually  calls  it  the  "priestly  tunic" 
(tunica  sacerdotalis  Candida  cum  clavis  ex  purpura).  The  word 
sacerdotalis  may  here  possibly  include  presbyters.  Walfried 
Strabo  relates  that  in  his  time  the  dalmatic  was  worn  even  by 
"some  priests,"  but  this  could  only  have  been  by  way  of 
exception  and  in  the  case  of  persons  who  occupied  posts  of 
special  dignity. 

P^NULA CHASUBLE 

Between  the  forms  of  shirt  which  we  have  already  studied 
and  the  different  forms  of  mantle  which  we  have  still  to  con- 
sider, stands  the  painida  (c^cuvoAi/s,  ^evo'Ar/s,  <j>atv6\iov, —  later 
casula,  chasuble).  It  presents  a  somewhat  striking  contrast  to 
the  early  type  of  classical  dress ;  it  seems  probable,  however, 
that  it  was  not  a  foreign  importation,  but  a  development  out 
of  some  common  garment  of  the  laboring  classes.  It  was  dis- 
tinctly an  outer  garment,  or  more  expressly  a  storm  cloak.  It 
was  made  of  heavy  woollen  cloth  —  more  rarely  of  leather. 
Originally  it  may  have  been,  like  the  pallium  or  the  early  toga, 
a  rectangular  blanket ;  but,  instead  of  being  wrapped  about  the 
body,  the  head  was  thrust  through  a  hole  in  the  middle  of  it, 
and  the  body  was  snugly  covered  up  as  under  a  little  cabin 
(casida).  It  was  commonly  broad  enough  to  cover  the  shoul- 
ders, and  long  enough  to  reach  below  the  knees  before  and 
behind.  It  was  manifestly  a  most  practical  rain  cloak,  and 
precisely  such  a  mantle  is  now  commonly  worn  by  tourists  in 
the  Alps.  A  number  of  peenulas  of  this  form  have  been  found 
in  the  graves  of  Achmim ;  and  the  same  form,  but  with  con- 
siderable variety  in  respect  both  to  width  and  length,  is  repre- 


1\  EN  ULA  —CJIA  S I '  B  L  E 


397 


sented  on  some  of  the  classical  monuments.  This  type  is 
similar  to  the  "fiddle-back"  chasuble  of  the  late  Roman  use, 
or  still  more  closely  to  the  Benedictine  scapular.  But  the  form 
used  by  the 
clergy  after 
the  fifth  cen- 
tury—  and  we 
may  suppose 
that  it  was  the 
same  which 
was  common 
to  all  the 
higher  classes 
—  had  a  much 
more  dignified 
appearance. 
It  was  round 
or  elliptical  in 
shape,  falling 
down  on  each 
side  well  over 
the  arms,  the 
same  shape,  in 
fine,  which 
was  used  in 
the  Church 
throughout 
the  Middle 
Ages. 

The  Roman 
monuments 
represent  nu- 
merous varie- 
ties of  the 
psenula  which 


Fig.  ISO.  — Pope  S.  Sixtus  and  the  Bishop  Optatus  (clothed  in  lonjr- 
sleeved  tunic,  dalmatic,  paenula,  and  sacred  pallium),  fresco  above 
the  tomb  of  Pope  Cornelius,  in  S.  CaUistus.     Sixth  century. 


need    not    be 

particularly  described  here,  since  they  have  no  relation  to  the 
specifically  clerical  type.  The  various  cuts  of  paenula  which 
are  represented  as  the  soldiers'  dress  may  have  been  distinctive 
of  different  regiments.     The  paenula  commonly  worn  by  the 


398  DKESS 

lower  classes  in  the  fourth  century  barely  covered  the  shoulders, 
and  narrowed  to  a  point  at  the  bottom.  A  type  which  Wilpert 
calls  the  "  baroque  "  psenula  is  witnessed  to  in  ancient  times 
only  by  the  frescos  of  the  catacombs ;  it  is  very  long  and  full 
behind,  but  the  front  part  is  reduced  to  a  small  triangle  which 
barely  covers  the  breast.  Curiously  enough,  a  similar  form  ap- 
pears to  have  been  in  use,  at  least  occasionally,  in  the  eleventh 
century,  for  it  is  represented  in  a  picture  of  this  date  in  the 
lower  church  of  S.  Clement.  The  Roman  monuments  lead  one 
to  suppose  that  the  pamula  Avas  ordinarily  provided  with  a 
hood  (cucullus).  This  was  a  natural  adjunct  to  a  rain  cloak; 
and  it  is  equally  natural  that  the  Egyptian  psenula  is  without 
it.  Even  after  the  garment  became  a  mere  liturgical  symbol, 
a  vestige  of  the  hood  was  preserved  in  the  adornment  —  just 
as  it  is  on  the  cope. 

The  prenula  was  always  dark  in  color ;  the  paintings  of  the 
catacombs,  the  mosaics,  and  literary  references  agree  in  showing 
that  it  was  usually  a  chestnut-brown.  The  Egyptian  psenulas 
are  commonly  brown  or  purple.  It  was  usually  of  a  solid  color 
and  without  ornament,  though  the  narrow  rectangular  form  was 
occasionally  adorned  with  the  clavus. 

The  paenula  must  have  come  into  common  use  before  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  era.  It  was,  at  first,  not  a  garment 
for  ordinary  use,  but  expressly  for  rain  and  for  travel.  It  is 
not  strange  therefore  to  find  that  it  was  worn  by  S.  Paul,1  who 
was  always  on  a  journey.  We  learn  from  the  author  of  the  book 
De  Oratoribus  that  about  the  middle  of  the  first  century  it  was 
something  quite  new  for  it  to  be  worn  instead  of  the  toga  by 
advocates  in  the  forum.  Not  even  the  zeal  for  the  conservation 
of  the  old  customs  could  hinder  its  popular  adoption,  and  by 
the  fourth  century  it  had  superseded  for  all  practical  uses  the 
toga  and  the  pallium.  The  sumptuary  law  of  382  permits  its 
use  even  by  senators,  though  in  the  conduct  of  all  public  busi- 
ness they  must  still  wear  the  official  toga.  The  paenula  of  the 
clergy  could  have  differed  at  the  most  only  in  cut  from  that 
worn  by  the  people. 

It  was  certainly  the  full,  round  psenula  which  was  worn  in 
the  church  and  out  of  which  was  developed  the  Eucharistic 
vestment,  as  we  see  in  the  mosaic  portrait  of  S.  Ambrose  (cf. 

12  Tim.  iv.  13. 


THE   CIILAMYS  399 

p.  395).  We  have  a  still  more  weighty  testimony  in  the  in- 
cident which  is  related  by  Sulpicius  Severus '  about  S.  Martin 
of  Tours  (t  397).  This  is  the  familiar  story  of  the  beggar  to  whom 
S.  Martin  gave  his  shirt.  But,  besides  illustrating  the  charity 
of  the  saint,  it  informs  us  that  he  was  accustomed  to  celebrate 
the  Eucharist  in  a  tunic  and  ampliibalus  —  that  is,  the  broad 
round  psenula.  What  is  actually  related  is,  "  The  saint,  with- 
out the  poor  man  seeing  it,  drew  out  his  tunic  from  under  the 
amphibalus  and  sent  him  away  clothed."  Such  a  feat  could 
have  been  accomplished  secretly  only  under  a  mantle  of  this 
sort,  and  it  is  evident  that  it  could  be  accomplished  at  all  only 
in  case  the  tunic  were  fastened  above  the  shoulders  by  means 
of  pins,  according  to  the  earlier  fashion  (see  p.  390).  That 
this  was  the  shape  of  the  psenula  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  cen- 
turies is  abundantly  clear  even  from  the  examples  which  are 
furnished  in  this  book  of  the  paintings  of  the  catacombs  (Fig. 
180),  and  from  the  mosaics  of  Ravenna  (Figs.  134, 142)  and  the 
Lateran  Baptistery  (Fig.  181). 

The  psenula  was  worn  by  women  as  well  as  by  men  (Fig. 
144). 

THE    CHLAMYS 

Before  describing  the  characteristic  Classical  mantles,  the 
pallium  and  the  toga,  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  discuss  at 
greater  length,  it  is  well  to  dispose  of  the  two  Oriental  mantles 
which  were  introduced  into  Rome  in  imperial  times  :  In  the 
first  place,  of  the  chlamys,  a  Phrygian  cloak,  which  is  frequently 
represented  on  the  Christian  monuments,  though  it  never  formed 
a  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  dress.  In  the  second  place,  of  the 
laeerna  or  birrus,  which  is  but  rarely  represented  on  our  monu- 
ments, though  it  finally,  in  an  advanced  period  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  developed  into  an  ecclesiastical  vestment  —  namely,  the 
cope. 

The  cldamys  (^Aa/xi's,  sagum,  paludamentum)  was  distinguished 
from  the  pallium  merely  by  its  smaller  size  and  by  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  worn :  namely,  by  bringing  together  two  cor- 
ners of  the  oblong  piece  of  cloth  over  the  right  shoulder  and 
fastening  them  there  by  means  of  a  clasp-pin.  It  was  espe- 
cially a   soldiers'  cloak ;    and  this  explains  the  fact  that  it 

*  Dialog.  2,  1. 


400  DRESS 

was  with  a  scarlet  "  chlamys  " '  the  Saviour  was  clad  by  the 
mocking  soldiers ;  —  it  was  precisely  the  garment  which  the 
soldiers  might  be  expected  to  have  at  hand.  But  the  chlamys 
was  also  used  in  civil  life  (Fig.  169),  and  it  survived,  though 
in  a  much  longer  form,  in  the  Byzantine  court  dress  (Figs. 
134,  181).  It  was  originally  an  Oriental  (Phrygian)  garment, 
and  therefore  appears  in  the  representations  of  the  Magi  (Figs. 
68,  89)  and  of  Orpheus.  As  a  soldiers'  cloak,  it  is  worn  by 
the  Israelites  in  some  of  the  later  frescos  which  depict  the 
miracles  in  the  wilderness. 

The  long  chlamys  —  called  paludamentum  —  was  worn,  not 
only  by  courtiers,  but  by  the  emperor,  the  purple  color  being 
distinctive  of  the  latter  (Fig.  134).  The  large  square  patch  on 
the  front  of  it  was  called  the  tablion.  This  garment  was  worn 
by  no  women  except  the  empress. 

LACERNA BIRRUS 

Another  foreign  mantle,  the  lacerna,  was  introduced  from 
Asia  into  the  Roman  army  by  Lucullus.  It  was  worn  by  army 
officers  for  storm  or  travel ;  it  appears  even  to  have  been  worn 
outside  the  toga  as  a  dust  or  rain  cloak.  But  in  spite  of  such 
use  it  was  distinctly  an  article  of  luxury,  and  it  was  regarded 
often  as  a  sign  of  reprehensible  elegance  in  dress.  We  know 
that  it  was  a  woollen  garment  of  dark  color  but  peculiarly  light 
in  weight ;  it  was  fringed  at  the  bottom,  and  in  the  West  it 
was  sometimes  provided  with  a  hood.  Unlike  the  chlamys,  it 
was  fastened,  not  at  the  shoulder,  but  in  front  of  the  breast  by 
a  strap  with  two  buttons,  or  by  a  round  breastpin ;  that  is,  it 
was  worn  just  as  a  shawl  is,  and  the  Persian  shawl  was  prob- 
ably the  pattern  and  origin  of  it.  So  worn,  it  descended  below 
the  hips,  though  in  later  use  it  came  to  be  very  considerably 
lengthened.  The  only  certain  representation  of  the  lacerna  in 
the  catacombs  is  a  sixth-century  fresco  in  the  cemetery  of 
Pontianus.  It  adorns  the  tomb  of  the  Persian  saints,  Abdon 
and  Sennen,  and  it  represents  the  saints  in  their  national  cos- 
tume. It  is  also  worn  by  Melchizedec  in  two  of  the  mosaics  at 
Ravenna  (Figs.  131, 132). 

The  lacerna  is  sometimes  identified  with  the  birrus.    Though 

1  Matt.  27  :  28. 


THE    TOGA  401 

they  must  have  had  the  same  form,  they  probably  did  not  have 
the  same  origin.  The  birrus  was  a  heavy  winter  garment,  and  it 
is  likely  that  it  was  always  provided  with  a  hood.  With  the 
decay  of  the  Western  Empire  such  shawls  naturally  ceased  to 
be  imported  from  the  far  East ;  as  they  became  articles  of  home 
manufacture  the  difference  between  the  lacerna  and  birrus  must 
have  disappeared,  and  the  first  garment  must  have  lost  its 
character  of  exotic  luxury.  It  is  only  thus  one  can  explain  the 
fact  that  such  a  garment  became  later  a  very  mean  dress  in- 
deed, and  is  represented  in  mediaeval  miniatures  as  the  habit 
of  monks  and  nuns.  It  had  another  history  in  the  Church, 
however,  for  it  was  developed  in  the  Middle  Ages  into  an 
ecclesiastical  vestment,  the  cope  (cappa,  pluviale).  As  the 
name  pluviale  indicates,  it  was  a  rain  cloak,  as  the  chasuble 
also  was  in  the  beginning.  It  could  not  have  come  into  use 
as  an  ecclesiastical  vestment  till  the  psenula  (chasuble)  had 
ceased  to  be  a  practical  garment,  and  no  longer  furnished  suffi- 
cient protection  against  the  cold  and  inclement  weather  which 
might  be  encountered  during  the  processions  and  other  func- 
tions held  out  of  doors.  This  development  lies,  however, 
entirely  beyond  our  period.  There  are  no  pictorial  representa- 
tions of  the  cope  in  ecclesiastical  use  earlier  than  the  eleventh 
century.  It  retained  its  fringe  till  the  fourteenth  century ;  a 
mere  vestige  of  the  hood  it  still  retains  in  its  conventional 
decoration. 

THE    TOGA 

The  characteristic  outer  garment  of  the  Roman  was  the  toga. 
It  was  the  distinctive  dress  of  the  Roman  citizen,  and  stood 
for  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  ruling  class ;  whereas  the 
pallium,  which  was  the  dress  of  all  peoples  of  Greek  stock,  and 
was  in  use  throughout  the  East  wherever  the  Greek  culture 
was  felt,  represented  the  cosmopolitan  aspect  of  the  Empire. 
It  is  probable  that  the  toga  was  originally,  like  the  pallium,  a 
mere  rectangular  strip  of  white  woollen  cloth  used  just  as  it 
came  from  the  loom.  Under  the  Empire,  however,  when  the 
mode  of  arranging  the  toga  became  a  matter  of  serious  impor- 
tance and  was  accounted  almost  a  fine  art,  its  cut  varied  con- 
siderably with  the  fashion.  Under  the  early  Empire  it  seems 
to  have  had  the  form  of  an  ellipse,  from  eight  to  ten  feet  in  its 
2d 


402  DRESS 

smaller  diameter  and  nearly  twice  as  much  in  its  greater. 
Before  it  was  put  on  it  was  folded  double  along  its  greater  axis  ; 
then  one  end  was  thrown  from  behind  over  the  left  shoulder, 
and  allowed  to  fall  in  front  almost  to  the  ground.  The  length 
which  remained  behind,  equal  to  about  twice  the  human  height, 
was  drawn  from  under  the  right  arm  in  front  of  the  body  and 
again  thrown  over  the  left  shoulder,  where  it  was  fastened  by 
the  nodus.  The  real  labor,  however,  began  at  this  point,  in 
arranging  the  folds  of  the  sinus  and  adjusting  the  whole  gar- 
ment according  to  the  mode. 

Dignified  as  this  garment  was,  it  was  very  far  from  being 
practical,  and  it  was  no  doubt  the  cumbrousness  of  the  toga 
which  prompted  the  use  of  the  dalmatic  and  the  psenula. 
Even  in  the  second  century  it  seems  to  have  gone  out  of  com- 
mon use  in  Italy  outside  of  Rome.  By  the  fourth  century  it 
was  no  longer  worn  by  the  people,  nor  even  by  the  magistrates 
except  in  the  exercise  of  public  functions.  At  the  end  of  this 
century  it  was  prescribed  as  the  public  dress  of  the  senators ; 
at  a  later  period  its  use  was  limited  to  the  consul,  and  with  the 
last  consul  it  disappeared.  The  toga  which  survived  the 
fourth  century  was,  therefore,  not  the  plain  white  garment  of 
the  people,  but  the  prcetexta  of  the  senators,  which  was  dis- 
tinguished by  a  broad  purple  border,  and  the  late  consular  toga, 
which  was  made  entirely  of  purple  silk  heavily  embroidered 
in  gold. 

During  the  course  of  this  history  the  toga  underwent  very 
marked  changes.  It  is  supposed  that  in  the  second  century  it 
was  cut  in  the  form  of  a  half  circle,  though  without  any  strik- 
ing change  in  the  mode  in  which  it  was  worn.  But  already  by 
the  beginning  of  the  third  century  it  was  subjected  to  a  system 
of  plaiting  or  folding  (contabulatio)  which  quite  altered  its 
character.  This  change  began  Avith  an  artificial  folding  of 
the  part  of  the  toga  which  was  drawn  across  the  breast,  so  that 
it  was  made  to  assume  the  appearance  of  a  mere  flat  band 
(tabula)  of  barely  a  foot  in  width  (Fig.  98).  This  contabulatio 
was  finally  extended  to  the  end  which  hung  down  before  the 
left  shoulder,  and  indeed  to  the  whole  course  which  the  toga 
originally  followed,  so  that  the  body  was  not  clothed,  but 
merely  wrapped  once  about  with  a  narrow  band.  The  result 
was  that  it  had  to  be  wrapped  around  once  again,  unfolded 


THE  PALLIUM  403 

and  in  its  natural  fulness,  and  the  end,  instead  of  being  thrown 
again  over  the  left  shoulder  reposed  upon  the  left  forearm. 
Such  a  development  was  favored  by  the  fact  that  the  toga  was 
no  longer  practically  required  as  an  outer  garment,  since  the 
dalmatic,  or  even  the  pumula,  was  worn  under  it. 

Such  is  the  form  the  toga  had  assumed  as  we  see  it  on  the 
reliefs  of  the  arch  of  Constantine,  or  more  clearly  on  the  early 
consular  diptychs.  The  latest  diptychs  represent  a  further 
change  in  the  mode  of  wearing  it,  which  was  probably  due  to 
the  exceeding  stiffness  of  the  embroidery  in  gold  and  precious 
stones  which  decorated  the  so-called  toga  pipta  of  the  consuls. 
When  with  the  last  consul  it  ceased  to  be  worn  in  the  West, 
it  survived  in  the  Byzantine  court  as  one  of  the  imperial  in- 
signia, the  lorum.  This,  however,  was  nothing  more  than  a 
vestige  of  the  original  toga,  a  mere  scarf  thrown  across  the 
shoulders. 

It  would  be  altogether  aside  from  our  purpose  to  describe  in 
more  detail  the  last  developments  of  the  toga,  for  it  is  a  gar- 
ment which  has  but  slight  claim  upon  our  notice  in  this  con- 
nection. Though  it  was,  of  course,  worn  by  many  Christians 
in  Rome,  it  was  never  a  distinctively  Christian  dress,  and  has 
no  relation  to  any  of  the  ecclesiastical  vestments.  In  the  pic- 
tures of  the  catacombs  the  toga  has  hitherto  been  recognized 
in  but  one  instance.  This  fact  is  doubtless  surprising,  but  it 
is  explained  by  what  is  said  in  the  next  section  about  the 
pallium  and  the  preference  of  the  Christians  for  it.  The  brief 
remarks  which  have  been  here  dedicated  to  the  toga  have  been 
made  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  fashion  of 
the  contabulatio,  which  was  applied  also  to  other  garments,  and 
explains  —  according  to  Wilpert  —  the  origin  of  the  sacred 
pallium  of  the  bishops  and  the  stole  of  the  priests  and  deacons. 

THE    PALLIUM 

While  the  toga  was  the  badge  of  the  Roman  citizen,  the 
pallium  represented  the  cosmopolitan  aspect  of  the  Empire. 
Though  originally  it  was  the  distinctive  Greek  mantle,  its  use 
was  finally  disseminated  as  broadly  as  the  Greek  civilization ; 
and,  worn  without  the  tunic,  it  became  especially  the  badge  of 
learning  and  philosophy.     It  was,  therefore,  clearly  more  apt 


404 


DRESS 


than  the  toga,  the  badge  of  national  privilege,  to  express  the 
cosmopolitan  spirit  of  Christianity  ;  and  the  fact  that  it  was 
worn  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  and  in  a  certain  sense 
sanctified  by  such  use,  constituted,  no  doubt,  an  additional 
explanation  of  the  Christian  preference  for  it.     In  comparison 


P£/I.1N1AN7S    TULP/S  J  SC.S   •  ASTER1VS  • 


Two  soldiers  in  tunic  and  pahidamentum  (adorned  with  the  tablion),  S.  Asterius,  priest,  in 
dark  tunic  and  paenula,  S.  Anastasius  (cleric?)  in  white  tunic  and  yellow  pallium. 

Fig.  181.  —  Mosaic  in  the  Chapel  of  S.  Venantius,  Lateran 


to  the  toga  it  was  a  very  simple  garment ;  convenience  and 
utility  are  bound  to  count  for  something  even  in  the  question 
of  dress,  and  it  is  therefore  not  strange  that  the  pallium  partly 
superseded  the  toga  even  in  Eome  itself.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  still  greater  convenience  of  the  dalmatic  and  the  paenula 
accounts  for  the  subsequent  disappearance  of  both  toga  and 


THE   PALLIUM 


405 


pallium,  or   rather  their  transformation  into  mere  ornaments 
and  insignia. 

The  pallium,  like  the  toga,  was  a  woollen  garment,  usually 
white.  It  was  without  decoration,  except  at  the  four  corners, 
which  were  ornamented  by  designs  in  tapestry.     The  pallium 


•scs 


SCSMAVR/3  -SCS-SEPTIMIVS  '  ASTI0CH1ANY 


S.  Maurus,  bishop,  in  white  tunic  and  dalmatic,  dark  psenula,  and  sacred  pallium  ;    S.  Sep- 
timus, deacon,  in  white  tunic  and  dalmatic,  again  two  soldiers,  or  courtiers. 


Baptistery.     Middle  of  the  seventh  century. 


was  merely  a  rectangular  piece  of  cloth,  three  times  as  long  as 
broad,  and  it  was  wrapped  about  the  body  in  a  very  simple 
and  natural  manner.  It  was  commonly  worn  as  follows :  one- 
third  of  the  stuff  hung  down  in  front  of  the  left  shoulder  to 
the  knee  and  enveloped  the  upper  arm ;  the  remaining  two- 
thirds  was  drawn  across  the  back,  under  the  right  arm,  and 


400  DRESS 

across  the  front  (enveloping  the  whole  body  to  the  ankles),  and 
again  thrown  over  the  left  shoulder,  where  it  had  to  be  fastened 
with  a  pin,  or  simply  over  the  left  fore  arm  (Figs.  90, 118,  119, 
140). 

The  pallium  was  commonly  Avorn  over  the  tunic,  but  the 
philosophers  expressed  the  simplicity  of  their  life  by  wearing  it 
without  a  tunic,  leaving  the  right  shoulder  bare  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  tunica  exomis.  It  was  so  worn  by  Justin  Martyr  and 
several  other  Christian  teachers,  and  it  is  occasionally  attrib- 
uted in  the  pictures  of  the  catacombs  to  sacred  persons ;  namely, 
to  Moses  (Fig.  73),  Isaiah  (Fig.  84),  and  Christ  (Fig  71). 

The  high  estimation  in  which  the  pallium  was  held  by  the 
Church  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  TertulliaiVs  remarkable 
tractate,  De  Pallio.  Half  in  earnest  and  half  in  jest,  with  his 
characteristic  exaggeration,  he  exalts  the  superiority  of  the 
pallium  at  the  expense  of  the  toga.  Whereas  the  toga  was 
worn  by  all  sorts  of  evil  men,  the  pallium  clothes  especially 
men  of  learning  —  "  Every  liberal  study  is  covered  by  my  four 
angles/'  he  makes  the  pallium  boast.  He  addresses  himself  to 
his  Carthaginian  fellow-citizens  without  distinction  of  religion, 
and  it  is  only  at  the  end  that  he  gives  expression  to  his  Chris- 
tian profession  in  bestowing  upon  the  pallium  the  last  meed  of 
praise :  "  Rejoice,  0  pallium,  and  be  glad,  a  better  philosophy 
has  taken  thee  into  her  service  since  thou  hast  begun  to 
clothe  the  Christians." 

Still  more  significant  of  the  Christian  preference  for  the  pal- 
lium, and  of  its  prevalence  in  the  Church,  is  the  fact  that  the 
toga  is  but  once  represented  among  all  the  pictures  of  the  cata- 
combs, whereas  the  pallium  appears  very  frequently  from  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century  until  the  fourth,  and  was 
employed  by  the  artists  in  representing  Biblical  and  sacred 
characters,  even  after  it  had  ceased  to  be  actually  used  in  com- 
mon life.  In  the  catacomb  paintings  Christ  and  the  Apostles 
are  always  represented  with  the  pallium,  Moses  usually  is,  and 
frequently  Abraham.  It  is  the  usual  dress  of  Biblical  charac- 
ters, with  the  exception  of  those  wdiich  symbolize  the  faithful 
departed  (Daniel,  Noah,  Job,  etc.).  The  pallium  represented 
official  dignity  in  the  Church,  and  was  not  ascribed  in  Christian 
art  to  the  ordinary  layman. 

The  woman's  mantle  was  not  essentially  different  from  the 


THE   SACRED   PALLIUM  407 

man's;  the  pallet  was  similar  to  the  pallium,  but  of  a  lighter 
texture.  In  Classical  times  the  border  of  the  palla  was  drawn 
over  the  head  for  a  veil.  The  veiling  of  the  woman's  head 
was  no  less  prescribed  by  Christian  custom,  but  in  Christian 
times  a  separate  veil-cloth  was  commonly  used.  Wilpert  shows 
that  the  palla  was  affected  by  the  fashion  of  contabulatio  in 
much  the  same  way  as  the  toga.  This  is  proved  by  a  number 
of  Roman  statues,  and  the  first  stage  of  the  process  (which 
affected  only  the  end  which  depended  in  front)  is  illustrated 
by  the  dress  of  Yeneranda  in  Fig.  70. 

THE    PALLIUM    SCARF 

Between  the  ancient  Greek  pallium  and  the  collar  which  is 
worn  by  Eoman  archbishops  there  would  seem  to  be  nothing 
in  common  but  the  name.  The  name,  however,  naturally  sug- 
gests that  there  was  a  substantial  relation  between  them,  and 
Wilpert's  first  and  most  fundamental  contribution  to  the  study 
of  ecclesiastical  dress  consists  in  the  proof  that  the  pallium 
scarf  was  derived  from  the  pallium  mantle.  To  judge  fairly 
Wilpert's  position  one  must  refer  to  his  own  statement  of  the 
case  in  Un  capitolo  cli  storia  del  vestiario  ;  only  a  brief  ab- 
stract of  his  argument  can  be  given  here.  A  number  of  links 
in  the  chain  of  monumental  evidence  are  lacking,  and  the  prop- 
osition is  therefore  incapable  of  rigid  demonstration  ;  but  Wil- 
pert's presentation  of  the  case  is  conclusive  enough  to  insure 
general  assent. 

Wilpert  was  not  led  into  this  theory  merely  by  the  sugges- 
tion which  was  furnished  by  the  common  name.  His  studies 
in  the  catacombs  led  him  to  the  discovery  of  the  high  and  al- 
most sacred  estimation  in  which  the  pallium  was  held  in  the 
early  centuries  of  the  Church,  as  evidenced  by  Christian  art. 
This  raised  the  presumption  that  the  garment  which  had  been 
appropriated  in  a  peculiar  manner  as  the  Christian  dress,  which 
had  been  worn  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  and  was  attributed 
in  Christian  art  only  to  the  most  sacred  Biblical  characters, 
would  not  be  lightly  discarded.  From  a  practical  point  of 
view,  however,  it  had  been  rendered  superfluous  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  wide  peenula.  The  fashion  of  contabulatio  which 
transformed  the  palla  and  the  toga  suggests  the  means  by  which 


408  DRESS 

the  pallium  also  might  have  been  retained  iu  its  place  of  honor, 
though  serving  a  merely  emblematic  use.  In  fact,  given  the 
prevalence  of  this  fashion,  and  supposing  that  there  was  a  dis- 
position to  retain  the  pallium  in  addition  to  the  psenula,  it 
could  only  have  ended  by  becoming  just  such  a  scarf  as  we 
find  in  use  in  the  sixth  century.  That  is  to  say,  it  could  only 
be  worn  as  pallium  contabulatum  over  the  pasnula.  This  had 
as  a  consequence  a  slight  alteration  in  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  worn ;  as  the  broad  psenula  did  not  permit  the  pallium 
contabulatum  to  be  passed  uuder  the  right  arm,  it  had  to  be  car- 
ried across  the  right '  shoulder.  It  lay,  therefore,  across  both 
shoulders,  and  it  is  very  aptly  called  by  the  Greeks  wfxo<f>6piov. 
The  pallium  scarf  was  worn  in  the  following  manner :  the  man- 
tle being  folded  into  a  strip,  one  end  was  thrown  from  behind 
over  the  left  shoulder,  so  that  about  a  third  was  allowed  to 
hang  down  before ;  another  third  was  carried  in  a  deep  curved 
line  across  the  back  to  the  right  shoulder,  and  thence  in  a  sim- 
ilar curve  across  the  breast  to  the  left  shoulder,  allowing  the 
remaining  third  to  hang  straight  down  the  back.  In  order  to 
hold  it  all  in  place  it  had  to  be  fastened  to  the  paenula  by 
three  pins  —  at  the  back  and  front  and  upon  the  left  shoulder. 

A  further  confirmation  of  the  close  relation  between  the 
mantle  and  the  scarf  consists  in  the  fact  that  the  latter  has 
always  been  made  of  the  same  common  material,  namely,  white 
wool ;  and  that  till  the  seventh  century  its  sole  decoration  con- 
sisted in  two  black  crosses  at  its  extremities.  The  two  crosses 
correspond  exactly  to  the  conventional  decoration  in  tapestry 
which  was  applied  to  the  four  corners  of  the  mantle  —  only 
two  of  them  would  of  course  be  visible  when  the  mantle  was 
folded.  It  has  already  been  remarked  that  letters  very  often 
appear  as  a  decoration  for  the  corners  of  the  pallium.  In  the 
catacomb  of  Thrason  there  is  a  fresco  of  the  fourth  century 
representing  Moses  with  a  pallium  which  is  decorated  at  the 
corner  by  a  cross.  One  may  reasonably  suppose  that  after  the 
fourth  century  the  cross  must  have  been  very  commonly  used 
in  this  way.  Wilpert  has  shown  by  experiment  that  a  light 
woollen  pallium  may  readily  be  folded  in  the  form  of  a  scarf 
with  precisely  the  effect  which  it  has  in  the  representations  of 
the  sixth  century. 

The  episcopal  pallium  is  represented  in  its  original  form  in 


77/ A'   SACRED   PALLIUM  409 

the  cemeterial  fresco  of  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  which 
is  given  in  Fig.  180.  It  is  several  times  represented  in  the 
same  form  upon  the  mosaics  of  Ravenna,  and  when  in  the  case 
of  these  mosaics  the  crosses  are  multiplied  beyond  the  original 
number,  the  anacronism  must  be  ascribed  to  the  restorer. 
During  the  seventh  century  the  pallium  ceased  to  be  folded 
and  became  a  mere  strip  of  cloth  of  single  thickness.  It  also 
suffered  a  marked  change  in  the  manner  in  which  it  was  worn. 
To  avoid  the  necessity  of  pinning  it  to  the  dress,  it  was  made 
simply  in  the  form  of  a  circle  with  long  pendants  before  and 
behind.  It  was  ornamented  at  the  same  time  with  more 
numerous  crosses.  Late  in  the  Middle  Ages  the  pendants  were 
so  much  curtailed  that  only  a  vestige  of  them  remained.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  such  fundamental  changes,  the  Roman  pallium 
remains  a  signal  example  of  the  persistence  of  ancient  custom, 
for  not  only  is  it  still  made  of  white  wool  and  ornamented 
solely  with  crosses,  but  —  without  any  consciousness  of  the 
reason  —  it  is  made  with  a  double  thickness  above  the  left 
shoulder,  over  which  the  original  mantle  was  twice  thrown. 
The  Oriental  pallium,  which  has  remained  nearer  to  the  original 
in  form,  has  departed  farther  from  it  in  material  and  decora- 
tion ;  its  material  is  generally  silk,  and  though  it  is  still  orna- 
mented solely  with  crosses,  it  is  covered  with  them  from  end 
to  end. 

The  earliest  reference  to  the  episcopal  pallium  is  by 
S.  Isidor  of  Pelusium  (t  440),  who  already  finds  in  it  the  symbol 
of  the  spiritual  authority  and  watchfulness  which  the  bishop, 
in  imitation  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  exercises  over  his  flock. 
He  informs  us  also  that  at  the  Eucharist,  when  the  moment 
came  for  reading  the  Gospel,  the  bishop  was  accustomed  to  lay 
aside  the  pallium,  as  then  the  Lord  himself,  the  chief  shepherd, 
spoke  directly  to  his  people.  This  symbolical  interpretation, 
and  still  more  the  liturgical  practice  which  is  here  instanced, 
presuppose  that  the  pallium  must  have  been  in  use  for  at  least 
a  considerable  time.  Wilpert  supposes  that  the  Christian  use 
of  such  a  scarf  influenced  the  sumptuary  law  of  382,  which 
prescribed  a  pallium  discolor  (evidently  a  mere  scarf)  as  the 
badge  of  civil  officials. 

S.  Isidor  speaks  of  the  pallium  as  a  badge  common  to  all 
bishops,  —  as  indeed  it  was  in  the  East.     In  the  West  it  has 


Ill)  DRESS 

been  regarded  since  an  early  time  as  a  distinction  which  could 
be  conferred  solely  by  the  Pope,  and  since  the  ninth  century 
it  has  been  limited  to  metropolitans.  It  is  doubtful,  however, 
whether  even  in  the  West  it  represented  originally  a  distinc- 
tion of  the  Roman  bishops,  and  not  rather  a  usurpation  of 
common  rights. 

THE    STOLE    AND    THE   MANIPLE 

The  fashion  of  contabulatio  furnishes  again  the  explanation 
of  the  development  of  the  stole  and  maniple,  as  ornamental 
insignia  of  office,  from  the  towel  or  napkin  which  was  the 
natural  adjunct  of  the  practical  and  somewhat  material  service 
which  characterized  the  office  of  deacon.  Here  again  the 
Christian  monuments  fail  to  furnish  any  illustration  of  the 
unfolded  towel  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  deacon,  or  of  the  stages 
of  development  between  that  and  the  narrow  band  of  cloth  as 
we  know  it  to-day.  On  the  other  hand,  pagan  monuments 
offer  sufficiently  full  illustration  of  such  a  towel  borne  upon 
the  left  shoulder  of  camilli  (youths  who  ministered  at  the 
sacrifices)  and  delicati  (table  servants),  and  of  the  contabulatio 
which  this  mantele  or  Unteum  underwent,  notwithstanding  its 
strictly  practical  purpose.  A  considerable  number  of  these 
monuments  are  reproduced  and  studied  in  Wilpert's  work. 
(Un  capitolo  cli  storia  del  vestiario,  Pt.  II.)  They  present  a 
striking  analogy  to  the  stole ;  they  reveal  that  the  Unteum, 
which  during  the  early  period  of  the  Empire  was  on  one  side 
rough  (villosum  —  perhaps  like  Turkish  towelling),  was  later 
made  of  fine  linen,  which  permitted  it  to  be  neatly  folded, 
though  it  never  quite  lost  its  practical  utility,  as  did  the  stole. 

Such  a  towel  was  evidently  demanded  by  the  deacon's  service, 
which  in  the  early  period  was  of  a  far  more  material  character 
than  it  is  to-day.  Part  of  the  support  of  the  clergy  consisted 
in  offerings  in  kind,  which  were  received  by  the  deacon,  and 
out  of  which  he  had  to  separate  the  bread  and  the  wine  for  the 
Eucharist.  At  the  Eucharist  itself  the  utensils  which  had  to 
be  cleaned  were  much  larger,  as  the  consumption  was  much 
greater  than  at  present,  and  then  as  now  the  deacon  had  to 
reach  the  celebrant  the  water  and  towel  for  the  washing  of  his 
hands.  The  fashion  of  contabulatio  sufficiently  explains  the 
development  of  the  scarf  from  the  towel,  and  like  the  towel  it 


STOLE  AND    MANIPLE  411 

continued  to  be  worn,  in  all  churches  except  the  Roman,  upon 
the  left  shoulder.  Already  by  the  end  of  the  fourth  century 
it  seems  to  have  become  a  mere  liturgical  distinction,  for  the 
council  of  Laodicea  forbade  its  use  to  subdeacons  and  the 
inferior  clergy,  notwithstanding  that  the  more  menial  parts  of 
the  deacons'  service  had  actually  been  devolved  upon  the  sub- 
deacons.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  special  cloth  suitable  to  his 
service  was  provided  also  for  the  subdeacon.  A  miniature  of 
the  tenth  century  in  the  pontifical  of  Archbishop  Landulfus  of 
Beneventum  represents  the  ordination  of  subdeacons,  who 
receive  from  the  bishop  the  chalice  and  paten,  and  from  the 
archdeacon  a  pitcher  and  bowl.  The  accompanying  rubric 
states  that  they  also  receive  from  the  archdeacon  what  the 
picture  fails  to  represent,  namely,  a  napkin  (manutergium). 

The  name  stole,  which  was  not  used  within  our  period  and 
can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  in  general  use  before  the  elev- 
enth century,  has  done  more  than  anything  else  to  obscure  the 
origin  of  this  vestment.  Its  proper  title  is  ovarium,  a  name 
which  was  merely  transliterated  into  Greek  (wpdpiov).  It  is  de- 
rived, not  from  orare  (to  pray),  but  from  os  (the  mouth)  ;  it  is  a 
name  therefore  which  obviously  indicates  the  character  of  this 
towel.  The  two  earliest  church  writers  who  mention  this  vest- 
ment are  S.  Isidor  of  Pelusium  {Ep.  I.  136)  and  the  author  of 
the  sermon  (ascribed  to  S.  Chrysostom)  Inparabolam  dejiliopro- 
digo.  They  both  call  it  696vq,  linteum,  which  corresponds  to 
our  towel.  It  was  worn  by  deacons  upon  the  left  shoulder; 
the  one  likens  it  to  the  towel  with  which  our  Saviour  washed 
the  Apostles'  feet,  the  other  sees  in  it  a  likeness  to  the  angel's 
wings. 

The  stole  worn  by  presbyters  and  bishops  had  another  origin, 
and  one  which  explains  the  different  modes  in  which  it  was 
worn.  It  also  was  called  ovarium  by  the  Latins,  but  by  the 
Greeks,  more  significantly,  7reptrpax^Aiov,  iTrcrpaxv^ov.  Unlike 
the  linteum,  it  was  of  white  wool  or  colored  silk;  it  naturally 
took  the  form  of  a  scarf,  and  it  must  originally  have  been  worn, 
as  it  is  to-day,  around  the  neck  and  under  the  chasuble,  for  it 
was  properly  a  neck-cloth.  One  must  remember  that  the  dal- 
matic and  the  paenula  had  apertures  too  broad  to  afford  any 
protection  to  the  neck,  and  that  even  the  tunic  was  without  a 
collar.     It  is  evident  that  it  must  often  have  been  necessary  to 


412 


DEESS 


protect  the  neck  from  the  cold,  and  it  appears,  too,  that  a  sense 
of  decency,  or  at  least  of  dignity,  prescribed  that  the  neck  be 
covered.  A  neck-scarf  was  not  an  uncommon  element  of  dress 
about  the  end  of  the  Empire,  and  from  that  is 
derived  the  ovarium  of  presbyters  and  bishops. 
When  the  deacon's  ovarium  had  become  a  mere 
ornamental  scarf,  it  differed  from  that  of  the 
presbyter  only  in  the  mode  in  which  it  was 
worn,  and  consequently  in  the  ordination  of 
priests  it  was  only  necessary  to  alter  its  posi- 
tion. The  earliest  representation  of  the  epis- 
copal stole  is  offered  by  a  mosaic  of  the  first 
half  of  the  sixth  century  at  Ravenna.  Presby- 
ters generally  wore  the  stole  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  bishops ;  the  practice  of  crossing  it  upon 
the  breast  is  ancient,  but  did  not  come  into  gen- 
eral use  till  a  late  period. 

The  monuments  prove  that  the  commoner 
mode  of  carrying  the  serving  towel  was  upon 
the  left  shoulder;  but  that  was  manifestly  not 
the  only  way  it  could  be  carried,  and  the  monu- 
ments also  show  it  carried  over  the  forearm. 
This  very  natural  diversity  in  the  mode  of  carry- 
ing the  napkin  or  towel  explains  the  origin  of 
the  maniple,  which  was  at  first  worn  exclusively 
by  the  Roman  deacons,  afterward  extended  to 
the  superior  orders,  and  finally  came  into  general 
use  throughout  the  West.  The  Roman  deacons 
did  not  wear  the  stole  till  the  Middle  Ages ;  they 
had  in  the  dalmatic  a  dress  which  sufficiently 
distinguished  their  office.  But  for  their  practical 
ministry  they  needed  the  ovarium  no  less  than 
the  deacons  of  other  churches,  and  they  actually 
carried  it,  according  to  a  disposition  which  may 
have  been  purely  accidental,  not  upon  the  shoul- 
der, but  upon  the  forearm.  The  Libev  Pontifi- 
calis  recounts  that  Sylvester  (314—335)  prescribed 
that  the  deacons  in  the  church  must  cover  the 
pie  (or  stole)  of  je£^  nanc|  (ov  forearm)  with  the  pallium  linosti- 

hnen  from  Ach-  '  ■* 

mim.  inn  hi — evidently  a  napkin  or  towel.     A  similar 


mi 


Fig.    1S2.  —  Mani- 


STOLE  AND   MANIPLE  413 

order  is  ascribed  to  Zosimus  (417-418).  Whatever  bishop  may 
have  iixed  this  custom,  whatever  negligence  on  the  part  of  the 
deacons  may  have  occasioned  such  an  order,  or  whatever  may 
have  been  the  reason  for  the  designation  of  this  particular 
mode,  the  fact  of  importance  is  that  the  Roman  deacons  bore 
the  ovarium  upon  the  left  forearm  or  in  the  hand,  and  this 
explains  the  fact  that  no  single  monument  represents  them 
carrying  it,  like  other  deacons,  upon  the  shoulder. 

The  name,  the  manner  in  which  it  was  carried,  and  the  use 
of  the  pallium  linostimum  unite  in  proving  that  it  had  nothing 
in  common  with  the  mappa  with  which  the  Emperor  and  the 
higher  officials  gave  the  sign  for  the  games.  For  the  first  cen- 
turies we  must  distinguish  it  also  from  the  mappa  in  the  sense 
of  our  handkerchief,  — a  distinction  which  must,  however,  have 
early  disappeared.  The  older  Roman  Ordines  call  it  mappula 
and  sestace  ;  the  medieeval  liturgists,  commonly  sudarium 
(sweat  cloth),  which  corresponds  rather  to  our  handkerchief 
than  to  the  napkin,  and  already  supposes  a  change  in  the  pur- 
pose and  employment  of  the  pallium  linostimum.  When  it  had 
once  become  a  sort  of  handkerchief  it  was  naturally  no  longer 
limited  to  the  deacons ;  documents  of  the  ninth  and  tenth  cen- 
turies represent  it  in  the  hands  of  the  Pope,  of  the  bishops, 
priests,  and  subdeacons. 

The  sudarium  retained  its  practical  purpose  longer  than  the 
stole.  It  also,  however,  was  folded,  and  finally  became  a  mere 
strip,  changing  at  the  same  time  its  material,  though  it  was  not 
till  the  twelfth  century  that  it  ceased  everywhere  to  be  more 
than  a  mere  badge. 

In  the  East,  where  the  deacons  have  always  worn  the  ovarium 
upon  the  shoulder,  the  maniple  naturally  never  came  into  use. 
But  anciently  an  embroidered  handkerchief,  e'y^etptov,  was  car- 
ried at  the  girdle. 


APPENDICES 


SELECT   BIBLIOGRAPHY 

ANCIENT  TEXTS   ILLUSTRATIVE   OF   THE   CHRISTIAN 
MONUMENTS 

The  most  valuable  discussion  of  the  bearing  of  this  whole  class  of  liter- 
ature upon  archaeology  is  found  in  the  first  volume  of  de  Rossi  :  lioma 
Sotterranea  (see  below);  —  in  particular  the  text  and  a  critical  valuation 
of  the  pilgrims'  itineraries  and  kindred  documents  bearing  upon  Roman 
topography  and  chronology.  This  is  briefly  recapitulated  (with  omission 
of  the  texts)  in  Northcote  and  Brownlow's  condensation  of  de  Rossi's 
work. 

Duchesne:  Liber  Pontificalis,  2  vols.,  fol.,  Paris,  1886-92;  the  first 
volume  discusses  the  archasological  value,  not  only  of  this  text,  but  of 
many  kindred  documents.  Origines  du  Culte  Chretien,  by  the  same 
author,  especially  the  second  edition,  8vo,  Paris,  1898,  reproduces  and 
comments  upon  many  apposite  texts  —  not  all  of  them  merely  liturgical. 

A  different  class  of  documents,  of  more  strictly  literary  character — 
including  especially  poetical  descriptions  of  monuments  —  is  treated  at 
length  in  the  first  volume  of  Garrucci  :  Storia  delV  Arte  cristiana  (see 
below).  Many  of  these  texts  are  presented  conveniently  in  the  8vo  vol- 
umes of  the  series  of  Quellenschriften  fur  Kunstgeschichte  u.  s.  10.  ;  — 
especially  in  Unger  :  Quellen  der  byzantischen  Kunstgeschichte,  No.  XII. 
of  the  series,  Vienna,  1878.  Richter  :  the  same  title,  but  dealing  exclu- 
sively with  Constantinople,  No.  VIII.  of  the  Neue  Folge,  1897.  Von 
Schlosser  :  Quellenbuch  zur  Kunstgeschichte  des  abendldndischen  Jlittel- 
alters,  Neue  Folge,  VII.,  1896.  Muntz:  Les  Sources  de  Varcheologie 
chretienne  (Melanges  de  VEcole  francaise  de  Borne,  1888)  gives  a  con- 
venient conspectus  of  this  class  of  literature. 

Liber  Pontificalis  Ecclesim  Bavenna},  ed.  Bacchini,  Modena,  1708. 

Inscriptions 

De  Rossi:  Inscriptiones  Christiana;  urbis  Boma;,  3  vols.,  fol.,  Rome, 
1861-88.  A  summary  of  the  same  by  Northcote  :  Epitaphs  of  the  Cata- 
combs, 8vo,  London,  1878.     Edm.  le  Blant  :  Inscriptions  chretiennes  de 

415 


■I  Hi  APPENDICES 

In  Qaule,  2  vols.,  fol.,  Paris,  18.">6  ;  Xmiveau  Bucueil  des  Inscriptions 
chretiennes  de  la  <;>mle,  1vol.,  Paris,  1802.  By  the  same  author  :  Maund 
(V  Epigraphie  chretienne  rf'apres  les  marbres  de  la  Gaule,  12mo,  Paris,  1809. 
These  volumes,  besides  giving  the  text  of  the  inscriptions,  provide  a  gen- 
eral introduction  to  the  subject,  aud  a  discussion  of  the  bearing  of  the  in- 
scriptions upon  history  and  art. 

Many  early  Christian  inscriptions  of  the  West  are  included  in  the  Cor- 
pus Tnscr.  Lat.  Christian  inscriptions  in  Greek,  belonging  to  both  East 
and  West,  are  included  between  the  Nos.  8606  and  9893  in  Vol.  IV.  fasc. 
2  of  Bockii  :  Corpus  Insrr.  GroBcarum.  A  separate  volume  has  been 
planned  for  the  Christian  inscriptions  in  Latin,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
French  School  at  Rome,  and  in  Greek,  under  the  French  School  at  Athens. 
Kraus  has  collected  the  Christian  inscriptions  of  the  Rhine  province  ; 
Alimer  and  Terrebasse,  those  of  Vienne ;  Kunstle,  in  the  Tubinger 
theologische  Quartalschrift,  1885,  has  commented  upon  those  of  North 
Africa.  The  poems  of  S.  Damasus  have  been  lately  published  by  Ihm  : 
Damasi  Epigrammata  (Anthologies  Latince  Supplemented),  8vo,  1895. 

FOR   THE   HISTORY   OF   THE    STUDY  OF   CHRISTIAN 
MONUMENTS 

It  will  suffice  to  refer  to  Bosio :  Roma  Sotterranea,  fol.,  ed.  of  Severano, 
Rome,  1632  ;  ed.  of  Aringhi,  Rome,  1651.  Boldetti  :  Osservazioni  sopra 
i  cimiteri  dei  SS.  martiri,  etc.,  2  vols.,  fol.,  Rome,  1720.  Bottari  :  Scul- 
ture  epitture  sagre,  etc.,  3  vols.,  fol.,  Rome,  1737-54.  Ciampixi:  Vetera 
monumenta,  etc.,  3  vols.,  fol.,  Rome,  1747.  D'Agincourt  :  Histoire  de 
V Art  par  les  Monuments,  6  vols.,  fol.,  Paris,  1823  ;  German  ed.,  1840. 

FUNDAMENTAL  AND   GENERAL  WORKS 

Works  of  Giovanni  Battista  de  Rossi 

Occupying  the  first  place  in  importance  is  his  Boma  Sotterranea,  4  vols., 
fol.,  Rome,  1864-77.  The  early  part  of  this  work  was  abridged  by  de 
Richemont  :  Les  Nowoelles  Etudes  sur  les  Catacombes,  Paris,  1870.  The 
same  work  was  much  more  admirably  done  in  English  by  Northcote  and 
Brownlow  :  Boma  Sotterranea,  1  vol.,  8vo,  London,  1870  ;  and  this  was 
immediately  translated  into  French  by  Allard,  into  German  by  Kraus, 
and  into  Swedish  by  Cexterwall  —  unfortunately  before  the  English 
authors,  following  the  progress  of  de  Rossi's  work,  had  brought  out  a 
second  edition,  much  enlarged,  in  2  vols.,  1878-79. 

De  Rossi's  work  was  uncompleted  at  his  death,  in  1894,  and  supple- 
mentary volumes  were  planned  by  his  brother,  M.  S.   de  Rossi,  and 


SELECT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  417 

his  immediate  scholars,  A  rmellini,  Stevenson,  and  Marijcchi.  The  first 
three  of  these  scholars  have  died  in  the  midst  of  their  labor,  but  the  first 
volume  is  promised  within  a  year.  Besides  gathering  up  the  scattered  re- 
sults of  de  Rossi's  work  (as  contained  especially  in  the  Bulleltino  cT  arche- 
ologia  cristiana,  which  he  started  in  1803,  and  of  which,  until  his  death,  he 
was  editor  and  chief  contributor),  it  is  to  include  all  the  later  results  of 
exploration  and  study.  In  connection  with  this  work,  though  in  sepa- 
rate volumes  (with  a  German  as  well  as  an  Italian  edition),  Wilfert  will 
furnish  a  complete  and  entirely  original  publication  of  the  frescos  of  the 
Roman  catacombs,  with  an  exhaustive  study  of  them.  His  accurate  re- 
productions will  put  for  the  first  time  before  the  student  who  cannot  be  in 
Rome,  or,  being  there,  cannot  study  the  pictures  at  first  hand,  the  data 
for  an  independent  judgment  of  the  art  of  the  catacombs. 

Another  work  of  de  Rossi's,  dealing  with  another  period  and  another 
sphere,  is  3fusaici  cristiani  e  saggi  dei  pavimenti  delle  chiese  di  Roma 
anteriore  al  secolo  XV.,  begun  in  1870  and  issued  in  several  sections  in 
folio,  Rome.  His  Inscriptiones  have  been  noted  above ;  his  scattered 
works  cannot  be  cited  here  —  two  years  before  his  death  there  was  pub- 
lished a  list  of  them  including  195  numbers.  The  importance  of  his 
work  cannot  be  overestimated  ;  in  his  study  of  the  catacombs  themselves 
he  was  obliged  to  deal,  and  he  dealt  in  a  luminous  manner,  with  almost 
every  department  of  early  Christian  art ;  by  his  rigorous  method  he  laid 
the  foundation  for  the  study  ;  and  his  conclusions,  with  unimportant 
reservations,  which  are  for  the  most  part  noticed  by  his  own  scholars,  are 
universally  accepted. 

Encyclopaedia 

Maetigny  :  Dictiohnaire  des  antiquites  chretiennes,  2d  ed.,  Paris,  1877, 
3d  ed.,  1889.  Smith  and  Cheetham  :  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities, 
2  vols.,  London,  1875-93.  Keaus  (Franz  Xaver):  Real-Encyklopadie 
der  christlichen  Alterthumer,  2  vols.,  Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  1882-86.  Of 
these,  the  English  publication  is  the  most  worthy,  the  French  is  the  least 
valuable. 

Under  this  class  we  may  perhaps  still  refer  to  the  great  work  of  Bing- 
ham :  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  8  vols.,  4to,  London,  1708-22, 
2d  ed.,  1726,  Latin  ed.,  1724,  new  Eng.  ed.,  Oxford,  1870,  9  vols.  Though 
as  good  as  ignoring  the  monuments,  its  convenient  classification  of  a 
wealth  of  literary  references  gives  it  a  lasting  value.  We  see.  however, 
how  greatly  these  same  subjects  are  illuminated  by  a  study  of  the  monu- 
ments, when  we  turn  to  the  work  of  Augusti  :  Denkw'ilrdigkeiten  aus  der 
christlichen  Archaologie,  12  vols.,  4to,  Leipsic,  1817  seq.,  and  Handbuch 
der  christlichen  Archaologie,  3  vols.,  8vo,  Leipsic,  1836-37  ;  —  though  even 
these  works  are  not  strictly  in  line  with  modern  monumental  study. 
2e 


418  APPEXDICES 

Current  Reviews 

Much  of  the  current  literature  is  to  be  sought  in  reviews  of  a  general 
character,  dealing  with  history,  archaeology,  architecture,  or  art.  Only 
such  can  be  mentioned  here  as  are  devoted  expressly,  either  in  whole  or 
in  part,  to  Christian  archaeology. 

Revue  de  VArt  Chretien,  Lille  and  Paris,  since  1857  ;  ISArte,  Rome, 
since  1897 ;  Bullettino  di  archeologia  cristiana,  Rome,  since  1863,  now 
under  the  name  of  Nuovo  Bullettino ;  Romische  Quartalschrift  fiir  christ- 
liche  Alter thumskunde,  Rome,  since  1887. 

Introduction 

Roma  Sotterranea  is  by  all  means  the  most  practical  introduction  to 
this  subject.  The  first  volume  of  Garrucci's  Storia  (mentioned  below), 
in  which  he  treats  of  the  "  Teoria'1''  of  early  Christian  art,  deserves  far 
more  appreciation  than  it  receives  from  those  who  turn  to  his  volumes 
chiefly  for  the  illustrations.  But  of  introductions  in  the  stricter  sense,  the 
most  considerable  is  the  work  of  Ferd.  Piper  :  Einleitung  in  die  monu- 
mentale  Theologie,  1  (large)  vol.,  8vo,  Gotha,  1867.  This  work  lays  down 
an  elaborate  theoretical  programme  for  the  study  of  the  subject ;  it  has 
had  a  great  influence  in  Germany,  and  it  deserves  attention,  though  the 
student  is  likely  to  find  it  too  abstract. 

Of  the  introductions  which  are  constructed  upon  the  same  lines  as  this 
present  handbook  (in  that  they  cover  schematically  the  whole  range  of 
the  study)  those  which  deserve  mention  are  the  following :  — 

Reosens  :  Elements  de  V  Archeologie  chretienne,  2  vols.,  8vo,  Louvain, 
2d  ed.,  1885-86.  It  is  much  used  in  Roman  Catholic  schools,  but  it  does 
not  cover  the  subject  with  even  formal  completeness,  and  in  the  treatment 
of  the  early  period  especially  it  shows  a  great  lack  of  critical  discrimination. 

A.  Perate  :  I? Archeologie  chretienne,  12mo,  Paris,  1892  (Bibliotheque 
de  V  enseignement  des  Beaux-Arts).  He  was  the  first  to  accomplish  the 
task  which  is  attempted  in  this  present  handbook  ;  and,  within  the  limits 
set  him  by  the  series  in  which  it  appears,  he  accomplished  it  admirably. 
The  book  is,  in  the  first  place,  readable,  and  being  written  con  amore,  it 
cannot  fail  to  interest.  But  beneath  the  simplicity  of  the  exposition  there 
is  —  what  is  less  readily  noticed  —  a  thorough  grasp  of  the  subject,  and 
the  clearest  distribution  of  the  material.  It  is  a  charming  book,  by  far 
the  most  popular  that  has  been  written  on  the  subject,  yet  it  proves  a 
sound  knowledge  and  a  rare  critical  faculty. 

Victor  Schcltze  :  Archdologie  der  altchristlichen  Kunst,  8vo,  Munich, 
1895.  This  is  a  more  laborious  work  than  the  above,  and  less  charming, 
but  by  reason  of  its  copious  notes  and  references  it  may  prove  more  use- 
ful to  students. 


SELECT  BIBLIOGBABIIY  410 

Franz  Xaver  Kkaus:  Geschichte  der  christlichen  Ktinst,  2  vols.,  4to, 
Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  1896-07.  It  is  the  first  volume  only  which  concerns 
our  period.  This  work  is  devised  upon  a  larger  scale  than  either  of  the 
above  ;  but  it  is  less  handy  and  less  exact. 

Mariano  Armellini  :  Lezioni  di  Archeologia  cristiana,  8vo,  Rome, 
1898,  being  a  posthumous  publication  of  his  lectures,  without  illustrations 
and  badly  planned. 

Orazio  Marucchi :  Elements  d'Archeologie  chrctienne,  3  vols.,  8vo, 
Rome  and  Paris,  1890  —  the  third  volume  has  not  yet  appeared.  This  is 
not  only  the  most  recent  but  the  most  valuable  work  of  this  class.  The 
author's  life-long  occupation  with  the  monuments  of  early  Christian  Rome 
enables  him  to  speak  with  authority,  and  he  has  also  the  talent  of  clear 
arrangement  and  exposition.  The  work  is,  however,  restricted  to  Roman 
antiquities  ;  the  second  volume  is  a  topographical  guide  to  the  Roman 
catacombs  ;  the  third  is  to  be  a  guide  to  the  principal  churches  of  Rome  ; 
and  the  first  is  more  than  one-third  of  it  allotted  to  two  themes  (Roman 
inscriptions  and  the  relation  of  Church  and  State  during  the  first  four 
centuries),  —  a  disproportion  which  is  to  be  regretted,  because  it  excludes 
subjects  more  proper  to  an  introduction  and  prohibits  the  book  from  ful- 
filling altogether  the  expectation  which  is  suggested  by  its  title.  The  cita- 
tion of  the  itineraries  is  handy. 

C.  W.  Bennett  :  Christian  Archceology,  8vo,  Cincinnati,  1888,  is  the 
only  work  in  English  which  need  be  mentioned  under  this  head. 

Miscellaneous 

Only  a  few  works  can  conveniently  be  cited  under  this  vague  title  :  — 
Two  collections  of  essays  published  in  honor  of  de  Rossi's  seventieth 
birthday  in  1892  —  Jlelanges  de  VEcole  francaise  de  Borne,  and  Archaolo- 
gische  Ehrengabe  (de  Waal,  editor);  Stephan  Beissel:  BUder  aus  der 
Geschichte  der  altchristlichen  Kunst  und  Liturgie  in  Itaiien.  8vo.  Frei- 
burg im  Breisgau,  1899  ;  and,  finally,  Grisar  :  Analecta  Bomana,  Rome, 
•ito,  1899.  This  last  valuable  and  interesting  work  gathers  up  a  number 
of  the  author's  occasional  articles,  and,  with  another  volume  which  is 
soon  to  appear,  constitutes  a  supplement  to  his  Geschichte  Boms  und  der 
Papste  im  Afittelalter  (a  work  which  makes  the  largest  use  of  archaeologi- 
cal sources),  3  vols.,  8vo,  Rome.  1899-1900  ;  also  in  Italian. 


THE   CATACOMBS 

As  the  principal  works  dealing  with  the  catacombs  have  already  been 
mentioned,  it  remains  to  cite  here  only  a  few  works  such  as  have  little  or 
no  bearing  beyond  this  subject.     It  must  be  remembered  that,  so  far  at 


420  APPENDICES 

least  as  the  Roman  catacombs  are  concerned,  none  of  these  can  have 
any  value  independent  of  de  Rossi's  work  ;  it  is,  therefore,  of  the  less 
consequence  that  some  of  the  least  worthy  productions  are  here  omitted. 
Perret  :  Lps  Catacoui/irs  ih  limnc,  <">  vnls..  Id.,  Paris,  1855,  —  edition  de 
luxe,  but  the  text  is  insignificant  and  the  plates  fantastic.  Roller  :  Les 
Catacombes  de  Rome,  Paris,  2  vols.,  fol.,  1881;  —  provided  with  pretty 
photographic  reproductions,  which,  however,  are  not  accurate  enough  to 
afford  a  sound  basis  for  study.  Victor  Schultze  :  Die  Katakomben, 
8vo,  Leipsic,  1882.  Marriott  :  The  Testimony  of  the  Catacombs,  8vo, 
London,  1870, — an  attack  upon  the  work  of  Northcote  and  Brownlow. 
Scott:  The  Catacombs  at  Rome,  12mo,  1st  ed.,  London,  1860,  2d  ed. 
1873,  —  a  well-conceived  set  of  lectures  to  working-men,  on  the  early 
Christian  period,  as  illustrated  by  the  catacombs.  Armellini  :  Le  cata- 
combe  romane,  8vo,  Rome,  1880  ;  and  Gli  antichi  cimiteri  cristiani  di 
Roma  e  d?  Italia,  8vo,  Rome,  1893. 


ARCHITECTURE 

There  is  but  one  book  which  covers  the  whole  subject  of  early  Christian 
architecture,  and  deals  with  it  exclusively,  H.  Holtzinger:  Die  alt- 
christliche  Architektur,  8vo,  Stuttgart,  1889  ;  2d  part,  1899.  The  book  is 
an  admirable  one.  It  is  especially  to  be  commended  for  its  citation  of  the 
references  in  early  Christian  literature,  and  for  the  completeness  with 
which  it  discusses  all  the  questions  subsidiary  to  church  architecture  ; 
as,  for  example,  the  exterior  adjuncts  of  the  church  edifice,  and  the 
interior  furnishings  required  by  the  cultus.  See  also  the  general  works 
of  Schultze  and  of  Kraus,  above  mentioned  ;  they  both  treat  the  subject 
of  architecture  at  considerable  length. 

Dehio  and  von  Bezold  :  Die  kirchliche  Baukunst  des  Abendlandes,  2 
vols.,  8vo,  and  several  volumes  of  plates  in  folio,  Stuttgart,  1884-99.  The 
patient  and  prolonged  labor  of  the  authors  has  collected  a  mass  of 
material  which  renders  their  book  quite  indispensable.  It  is  only  the 
first  book  of  their  first  volume,  and  a  part  of  the  first  Lieferung  of  plates, 
which  concerns  our  period.  Their  limitation  to  Western  architecture 
explains  their  preoccupation  with  the  development  of  the  basilical  type. 

Other  works  which  deal  with  the  development  of  the  basilica  may  be 
cited  without  comment,  although  they  represent  divers  conflicting  theories. 

Zesterman  :  Die  antiken  und  die  christlichen  Basiliken,  Leipsic,  1847. 

Mesmer  :  Ueber  den  Ursprung,  die  Entwicklung,  und  Bedeutung  der 
Basilika  in  der  christliche  Baukunst,  Leipsic,  1854. 

Weingartner  :  Ursprung  und  Entwicklung  des  christlichen  Kirchen- 
gebdudes,  Leipsic,  1858. 


SELECT  BIBLIO&BAPHY  421 

Mothes  :  Die  Basilikenform  bei  den  Christen  der  ersten  Jahrhunderte, 

Leip.sic,  180.3. 

Richtbr:  Der  Ursprung  der  abendldnd.  Kircliengebanile,  Vienna, 
1878. 

Sciidltze  :  the  same  title  ;  in  the  Christliche  Kunsthlatt,  1882. 

Laxge  :  Haus  und  Halle,  Leipsic,  1885. 

G.  B.  Brown  :  From  Schola  to  Cathedral,  Edinburg,  1880. 

Crostarosa  :  Le  basilche  cristiane,  Rome,  1892. 

Kirsch  :   Das  christl.  Kultusgebaude  im  Alterthume,  Cologne,  1893. 

G.  Clausse  :  Basiliques  et  Mosaiques  chretiennes,  2  vols.,  4to,  Paris, 
1893. 

The  volume  on  early  Christian  architecture  furnished  by  Essenwein 
for  Dunn's  series  of  handbooks  on  Die  Baustile,  has  been  rewritten  for 
the  same  series  by  Holtzinger. 

Auguste  Choisy  :  Histoire  dx  V Architecture,  2  vols.,  8vo,  Paris,  1899. 
In  this  general  work  it  is  only  the  first  part  of  the  second  volume  which 
deals  with  our  period.  Throughout  the  whole  of  it,  the  author's  keen 
perception  and  clear  exposition  of  fundamental  architectural  morphology 
is  almost  beyond  praise.  Treating  the  development  of  architectural 
forms  throughout  the  whole  historic  period,  he  dwells  naturally  with  pre- 
dilection upon  the  one  substantially  original  motive  which  is  to  be  credited 
to  the  early  Christian  period  —  the  Byzantine  dome  construction. 

Other  works  which  deal  specially  with  Byzantine  architecture  are  :  — 

Cocchard  :  Eglises  byzantines  en  Grece,  1  vol.,  fob,  Paris,  1842; 
Voyage  en  Grece,  1  vol.,  fob,  Paris,  1847. 

Salzexberg  :  Altchristliche  Baudenkmaler  Constantinopels,  1  vol., 
fob,  Berlin.  1855. 

De  Vogue  :  Les  Eglises  de  la  Terre  Sainte,  Paris,  1860. 

Texier  and  Pullax  :  E  Architecture  byzantine,  1  vol.,  fob  (French 
and  English  editions),  London,  1864. 

Choist  :  Eart  de  batir  clxez  les  Byzantines,  1  vol.,  fob,  Paris,  1883. 

Gosset  :  Les  Cupoles  a" Orient  et  cV Occident,  1  vol..  fob,  Paris,  1889. 

Representing  special  regions,  we  have,  in  the  first  place,  the  unique  and 
indispensable  work  of  — 

De  Vogue  :  Syne  Centrale,  1  vol.,  4to,  of  text  and  one  of  plates,  Paris, 
1865-77. 

Vox  Quast  :  Altchristliche  Bauwerke  von  Ravenna,  fob,  Berlin,  1842. 

Schwarze  :  Untersuchungen  uber  die  dussere  JZntwicklung  der  african- 
ischen  Eirche,  mit  besonderer  Verwertung  der  archdologischen  Funde, 
Gottingen,  1892. 

Butler  •  Ancient  Coptic  Churches  of  Egypt,  2  vols.,  8vo,  Oxford,  1884. 

Jackson  :  Dalmatia,  the  Quarnero,  and  Istria,  3  vols.,  8vo,  London, 
1887. 


422  APPENDICES 

Aioiki.i.ini  :   Le  Chiese  iii  Roma,  Hvo,  Rome,  2d  ed.,  1891. 

Mi  lloolt:  Saint  Clement,  8vo,  Rome,  187;J. 

Padre  Germano  :  La  Casa  dei  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  8vo,  Rome, 
1894. 

Wieland:  Ein  Ausftug  ins  alh-ltristliche  Africa,  8vo,  Stuttgart  and 
Vienna,  1900. 

Barnes  :  St.  Peter  in  Pome,  8vo,  London,  1900. 

J.  Rohault  de  Flelrv  :  Saint  Pierre,  4to,  Paris,  1899. 

Ricci  :  Ravenna  e  i  suoi  dintorni,  Ravenna,  1897. 

PICTORIAL   ART 

In  General,  with  Special  Reference  to  Painting,  Interpretation, 
and  Iconography 

Raff.  Garrucci  :  Storia  deW  Arte  cristiana,  6  vols.,  fol.,  Rome, 
187:3-81.  This  great  work,  which  covers  the  entire  field  of  early  Christian 
pictorial  art,  is  the  product  of  learning  as  well  as  labor.  On  account  of 
its  illustrations,  it  must  remain  quite  indispensable  to  the  student  of  this 
subject  till  the  same  ground  has  been  covered  with  equal  completeness  by 
photographic  reproductions. 

Rohault  de  Fleury:  La  Messe,  8  vols.,  fob,  Paris,  1883-89  ;  VEvan- 
gile,  fob,  Tours,  1874.  These  volumes,  though  dealing  neither  so  exclu- 
sively nor  so  completely  with  the  monuments  of  our  period,  constitute  a 
valuable  storehouse  of  illustration. 

On  a  very  different  plane  are  the  works  of  Wilpert,  which  are  limited 
in  scope  to  the  study  and  reproduction  of  the  paintings  of  the  catacombs. 
His  books  are  mentioned  here  among  those  of  a  more  general  character, 
because  those  which  have  yet  appeared  are  but  the  introduction  to  a 
greater  work  (to  come  out  as  a  continuation  of  de  Rossi's  —  see  above), 
which  will  cover  completely  the  art  of  the  catacombs.  His  admirable  pho- 
tographic reproductions  of  the  frescos  are  matched  by  the  value  of  his 
studies  upon  them,  which  are  at  once  the  most  solid  and  the  most  illu- 
minating which  have  been  published.  No  study  of  the  subject  should  be 
thought  of  without  reference  to  these  works.  The  author  enjoys  the 
advantage  —  more  rare  in  the  case  of  those  who  write  on  this  subject  than 
one  would  suppose  —  of  direct  acquaintance  with  the  monuments,  —  and 
not  only  that,  but  a  long  and  exclusive  devotion  to  their  study.  The 
more  considerable  of  his  works  which  remain  to  be  mentioned  under  this 
topic  are  :  Principienfragen  der  christlichen  Archaologie,  small  vol. ,  4to, 
1889  ;  Die  Katakombengemalde  und  ihre  alten  Copien,  1891  ;  Ein  cyclus 
christologischer  Gemalde  aus  der  Katakombe  der  heiligen  Petrus  und 
Marcellinus,  1891 ;  Die  gottgeweihten  Jungfrauen,  1892 ;  Fractio  Panis 


SELECT  BIBLJOGBAPITY  423 

1895;  French  ed.,  1896; — all  in  small  folio,  published  at  Freiburg  im 
Breisgau.     Die  Malcrvioi  der  Sarrainriit.srapcllfni,  4  to,  1897. 

A.  Ventuhi  :  Storia  delV  Arte  italiana,  Vol.  I.,  large  8vo,  Milan,  1901. 
Five  more  volumes  are  to  follow,  but  it  is  the  first  only  which  concerns 
our  period,  dealing  with  Christian  art  from  its  origin  to  the  time  of  Jus- 
tinian. It  is  the  most  complete,  the  most  luminous,  and  the  most  author- 
itative work  which  has  yet  been  published  on  this  subject,  and  it  will 
prove  especially  valuable  to  those  who  are  interested  in  tracing  the  influ- 
ence of  early  Christian  art  through  the  Middle  Ages.  The  work  is  richly 
illustrated. 

F.  R.  Salmon  :  Histoire  de  VArt  Chretien  aux  diz  premier  Siecles, 
Paris,  1891,  a  sumptuous  book,  though  but  sparely  and  poorly  illus- 
trated, with  a  treatment  which  is  readable  but  not  fundamental.  Cutts  : 
History  of  Christian  Art,  12mo,  London,  1893,  —  an  excellent  popular 
treatment,  published  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Christian 
Knowledge.  Didron  :  Inconographie  chretienne,  2  vols.,  8vo,  Paris, 
18-43  (also  Eng.  ed.,  Bonn's  Library,  London,  1886).  Like  Mrs.  Jameson, 
in  her  deservedly  popular  handbooks,  this  author  touches  the  early  period 
only  as  a  point  of  departure.  Likewise,  Hulme  :  Symbolism  in  Christian 
Art,  London,  1892,  has  not  set  himself  to  understand  the  peculiarity  of 
the  early  period. 

Raoul  Pochette:  Sur  VOrigine  des  types  imitatifs  qui  constituent 
Vart  du  Christianisme,  Paris,  1834.  This  author,  by  the  publication  of 
certain  startling  propositions  (untenable,  at  least  in  their  original  form), 
had  the  credit  of  starting  an  instructive  discussion  on  the  origin  of  early 
art  forms.  Ferd.  Piper  :  Mythologie  und  Symbolik  der  christlichen 
Kunst,  2  vols.,  8vo,  Weimar,  1847.  This  work  has  had  a  strong  influ- 
ence upon  the  whole  school  of  German  Protestant  writers.  Muntz  : 
Etudes  sur  V histoire  de  la  peinture  e  de  V iconographie  chretiennes,  8vo, 
Paris,  1886.  Detzel  :  Christliche  Ikonographie,  8vo,  Paris,  1894.  The 
last  two  are  excellent  books.  J.  Romilly  Allen  :  Christian  Symbolism 
in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  8vo,  London,  1887.  Margaret  Stokes  : 
Early  Christian  Art  in  Ireland,  London,  1888  ;  and  Jos.  Anderson  : 
Early  Christian  Times  in  Scotland,  Edinburgh,  1891.  No  other  books 
on  Celtic  art  are  mentioned,  because  they  do  not  properly  belong  to  our 
subject. 

The  following  monographs  may  be  mentioned  without  comment :  — 

Hasenclever  :  Der  altchristliche  Grdberschmuck,  8vo,Braunschw.,1886. 

Becker  :  Die  Wandgemalde  der  romische  Katakomben,  8vo,  1888. 
.  Achelis  :  Das  Symbol  des  Fishes,  8vo,  Marburg,  1888. 

Mitius  :  Jonas  auf  den  Denkmdlern  des  christlichen  Alterthums,  8vo, 
Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  1897. 

Vopel  :  Die  altchristliche  Goldglaser,  8vo,  Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  1899. 


iji  Ai>ri;xi)i<i:s 

Lieli  :  Die  Darstt  llungt  n  d\  r  alh  m  ligsU  n  Jungfrau  auf  den  Kunst- 
denkmalern  der  Katakomben,  <^vo,  1887. 

Fickeb  :  Daratellung  der  Apoitel  in  der  christlichen  Kunst,  8vo,  Leip- 
sic,  1887. 

Scicmid:  Die  Darstellung  der  Geburt  Christi  in  der  bildenden  Kunst, 
8vo,  Stuttgart,  1890. 

Palmer  :  Early  Christian  Symbolism,  fol.,  1885  —  mostly  plates,  which 
are  inaccurate  ;  text  worthless. 

Fakrar:   Christ  in  Art,  8vo,  1895  —  uncritical. 

Kaifmann  :  Die  Auferstehungsglaube  in  altchrist.  Kunst,  fol.,  1900. 

Zockler  :    The  Cross  of  Christ,  Eng.  trans.,  8vo,  1877. 

Sei  moi  r  :    The  Cross  in  Tradition,  History,  and  Art,  8vo,  1808. 

R.  Forrer  xs  Muller:  Kreuz  und  Kreuzigung  Christi  in  Hirer  Kun- 
stentwicklung,  4to,  Strassburg  in  Elsass,  1894. 

Sculpture 

Le  Blant  :  Les  Sarcophages  de  la  ville  a"1 Aries,  1  vol.,  fol.,  Paris,  1878 ; 
Les  Sarcophages  inedits  de  la  Gaide,  1  vol.,  fol.,  Paris,  1880.  Both  of 
these  are  most  valuable  works,  as  well  for  the  text  (which  deals  also  with 
the  general  problems  of  Christian  art),  as  for  the  illustrations. 

Grousset  :  Etude  des  Sarcophages  Chretiens  de  Borne,  Paris,  1885. 

Ficker  :  Die  altchristliche  Bildwerke  im  christlichen  Museum  des  Later- 
alis, 12mo,  Leipsic,  1890  —  a  handy  catalogue. 

Koxdakoff  :  Les  Sculptures  de  la  Porte  de  Sainte  Sabine  (lievue  arch'e- 
ologiquc),  1877. 

Berthier  :  La  Porte  de  Sainte  Sabine,  4to,  Freiburg  im  Schweiz,  1890. 
For  the  same  subject,  see  in  Grisar's  Analecta  (above  mentioned). 

Wiegaxd  :  Das  altchristliche  Hauptportal  an  der  Kirche  der  hi.  Sabina, 
Trier,  1900. 

Westwood  :  A  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  the  Fictile  Ivories  in  the  South 
Kensington  Museum,  London,  1876. 

Maskell  :  Description  of  the  Ivories  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum, 
London,  1872. 

Stuhlfacth  :  Die  altchristliche  Elfenbeinplastic,  Freiburg  in  Breisgau, 
1896. 

Mazzaxti  :  La  Scultura  ornamentale  romana  nei  bassi  tempi,  4to, 
Rome,  1896. 

Zimmerman  :  Oberitalisches  Plastic  in  fruhen  und  hohen  Mittelalter, 
4to,  1897. 

Cattaneo  :  V  Architettura  dal  secolo  VI.  al  mille  circa,  8vo,  Venice, 
1889.  English  trans.,  London,  1890  (also  in  French).  This  work,  not- 
withstanding its  title,  has  much  the  same  scope  as  the  last  two. 

De  Waal  :  Der  Sarcophag  des  Junius  Bassus,  fol.,  Rome,  1900. 


SELECT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  425 

Mosaic 

De  Rossi :  Musaici  cristiani  e  saggi  dt  i  pavimt  nti  cU  lie  chit  <  di  Vtoma 
anteriori  al  secolo  XV.,  Rome,  issued  in  several  folio  sections,  beginning 
with  1870. 

Gerspach:  La  Mosaique,  Paris,  1891  {Bibliotheque  de  V JEnseignement 

des  Beaux- Arts). 

Appeli.  :   Christian  Mosaic  Pictures,  London,  1877. 
Richter:  Die  Mosaiken  van  Ravenna,  Vienna,  1878. 
Diehl  :  Ravenne,  4to,  Paris,  1886. 
Ain'alov:  Mosaiken  der  IV.  u.  V.  Jahrhunderts,  8vo,  .1895. 

Miniatures 

Hartell  and  Wickoff  :  Die  Wiener  Genesis,  1  vol.,  fol.,  Vienna,  1895, 
—  an  admirable  comparative  study,  which  must  serve  as  the  foundation 
for  the  study  of  early  miniatures. 

Strzygowski  :  Die  Kalenderbikler  des  Chronographen,  Berlin,  1888. 

Hans  Gkaevex:   R  Rotolo  di  Josua  (in  VArte,  1898.  pp.  221-23). 

Beissel  :  Vaticanische  Miniaturen,  4to,  Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  1893. 

Gebhardt  and  Harnack  :  Evangeliorum  codex  purpureus  Rossanensis, 
Leipsic,  1880. 

Haseloff:   Codex  purpureus  Rossanensis,  Leipsic.  1898. 

Middleton:  Illuminated  Manuscripts  of  Classical  and  Mediceval 
Times,  Cambridge,  1892. 

Byzantine  Art 

Batet  :  VArt  Byzantin,  Paris,  1883  (Bibliotheque  de  I'Enseignement 
des  Beaux-Arts)  ;  Recherches  pour  servir  a  VMstoire  de  la  peinture  et  de 
la  sculpture  chretienne  en  Orient  avant  les  Iconoclastes,  Paris,  1879. 

Koxdakoff  :  Histoire  de  Vart  byzantin  considere  principalment  dans 
les  miniatures,  2  vols.,  4to,  Paris,  1886-91. 

Strzygowski  :  Byzantische  Denkmdler ;  Der  Etschmiadzin-Evangeliar. 
1  vol.,  fol.,  Vienna.  1891  ;  Byzantische  Wasserb  eh  alter  von  Konstantino- 
pel,  1  vol.,  fol.,  1893.  Numerous  works  of  the  same  author  are  to  be 
found  in  the  reviews  of  Byzantine  art. 


THE   MINOR   ARTS 

Gerspach:  La  Verrerie,  1885;  Les  Tapisseries  coptes  —  both  in  the 
Bibliotheque  de  VEnseignement  des  Beaux-Arts.  Paris. 

Riegl  :  Die  dgyptischen  Textilfunde  im  k.  k.  ostreichischen  Museum. 
Vienna,  1889. 


128  APPENDICES 

Forrer:  Du  Graber-  und  Textilfunde  von  Achmim-Panopolis,  4to, 
1891  .  Dit  romischen  und  byzantinischen  Seidentextilien  aus  dem  Graber- 
feldi  '■mi  A.  I'.,  Ito,  1891;  Die  fruhchristlichen  Alterthumer  aus  dem 
Graberfeldi  von  A.  P.,  Ito,  1893  j  Die  Zeugdrucke  der  byzantinischen,  ro- 
manischen,  gothischen  und  spatern  Kunstepochen,  Ito,  1894. 

The  works  of  this  author,  with  their  abundant  illustrations,  give  a  most 
satisfactory  account  of  the  early  textiles  (third  to  sixth  century)  which 
have  lately  been  found  in  such  great  quantity  and  in  such  perfect  preserva- 
tion in  several  Egyptian  burial-grounds.  They  are  published  in  Strass- 
burg  in  Klsass. 

Karabacek  :  Katalog  dt  r  Th.  Graff'schen  Funde  in  Aegypten,  Vienna, 
1883. 

Al.  Riegl  :  Die  dgyptische  Textilfunde  im  k.  k.  osterr.  Museum, 
Vienna,  1889. 

VESTIARY 

Marriott:  Vestiarium  Christianum,  8vo,  London,  1868,  —  a  learned 
English  work  which,  like  all  others  of  its  time,  fails  to  understand  the 
first  stage  of  the  development. 

Braux  :  Die  priesterlichen  Gewander  des  Abendlandes,  Freiburg  im 
Breisgau,  1808  ;  Die  pontificalen  Gewander  des  Abendlandes,  1898. 

Grisar  :  Cap.  XII.  of  his  Analecta  Romana.  Rome,  1899. 

Wilpert:  Die  Gewandung  der  Christen  in  den  ersten  Jahrhunderten, 
Cologne,  1898  ;  Un  capitolo  di  storia  del  vestiario,  fol.,  Part  L,  1898  ; 
Part  II.,  1899,  Rome. 

This  last  work  of  Wilpert's  has  for  the  first  time  put  the  study  of  the 
origins  of  distinctive  ecclesiastical  vestments  upon  a  sound  archseological 
basis. 


INDEX1 


Abel,  299,  317. 

Aberciua  inscription,  234  seq. 

Abraham,  208,  317. 

Acanthus,  254,  298. 

Acilii  Glabriones,  on. 

Adam  ami  Eve,  204  seq.,  259. 

Adamnauus,  142. 

Africa,  9. 

Agape,  50  seq. 

d'Agincourt,  21. 

Agnellus,  14. 

Aisles,  107. 

Alb  {tunica  alba),  393. 

Altar.  40, 105, 123, 120, 159 seq. 

cloths,  377  seq. 
Ama,  or  umula,  347. 
Ambon,  174. 
Ambulacrum,  24. 
Amphibaius,  399;  see  Chasuble. 
Ampula,  79,  355. 
Ananias  and  Saphira,  283. 
Anastasis,  church  of,  141, 171, 177  seq., 

309  seq. 
Anchor.  04. 

Angels,  209  note,  321  seq.,  326. 
Annas  and  Caiaphas,  282. 
Annunciation,  245. 
Antinoe  (Egypt),  textiles,  365. 
Antioch,  Constantinian   church,   138, 

177  seq. 
Apocalypse,  302. 
Apocryphal  Gospels,  influence  of,  287, 

320. 
Apostles,  267,  303,  307. 
Apse  (apsis),  121,  123. 
Apsis  trichora,  147. 
Arch,  88. 

apsidal  and  triumphal,  120,  124. 


Archaeology,  history  of  Christian,  17 

seq. 
Architecture,  83  seq.;  cf.  Contents,  pp. 

viii.  and  ix. 
Architrave  and  archivolt,  109  seq. 
Archulphus,  142. 
Arcosolium.  25. 
Arcus  major,  124.     . 
Area,  47  seq. 
Arenarium,  32. 
Armelliui,  20. 
Ascension,  237. 

church  of,  142,  310. 
Asia  Minor,  9. 
Atrium,  of  private  house,  98. 

of  basilica,  105, 106,  178. 
Auriol  (France),  altar,  160. 
A-03,  242,  236  seq.;  see  Monogram. 

Banquet,  see  Celestial,  and  Eucharis- 

tic  Banquet. 
Baptism,  symbols  of,  227;  see  Fish. 

of  Jesus,  330. 
Baptisteries,  136,  137,  175. 
Basilica,  Christian,  87,  88,  89  seq.;  cf. 
Contents,  p.  viii. 

civil.  92. 

of  Maxentius,  153. 

private.  97. 
Bema,  121. 

Benediction,  gesture  of.  260. 
Bethlehem,  symbol  of,  314. 
Birr  us.  400. 
le  Blant,  21. 
Bosio,  17,  18. 
Braccse,  389. 
Brandea,  163. 
Breech-cloth,  389. 


1  N.B.  The  Table  of  Contents,  pp.  vii.-xii.,  is  itself  a  topical  index:  it  has 
been  arranged  with  great  care  to  this  end,  and  in  many  cases  it  will  be  found 
more  convenient  for  reference  than  the  alphabetical  index,  which  is  not  de- 
signed to  supplant  it. 

427 


128 


INDEX 


Bnrial,  40  seq.,  366. 
on  tlic  Burface,  78. 
Bociel  ies,  57  seq. 

Cain  and    \lirl,  299. 

( 'ala  ».•■'.  388. 

( 'ana  llus,  see  Chancels. 

Candles,  352,  "■•"'">. 

Canopy,  sec  ( 'iborium. 

Cantharus,  a  fountain,  179  seq. 

a  chalice,  see  Eucharistic  Vessels. 

a  lamp,  351. 
Cap,  387. 

Capella  greca,  44,  227  seq. 
Capitals,  108  seq. 
t  'atabaticum,  29. 

Catacombs,  23  seq. ;  see  Cemeteries. 
Oataracta,  162. 
Cathedra,  172  seq. 
Ceiling,  116  seq. 
Celestial  banquet,  221  seq. 
Cella,±9. 

Cemeterial  chapels,  49. 
Cemeteries,  23  seq. ;  cf.  Contents,  p. 
vii. 

individual,  see  under  Rome,  etc. 
Censers,  353  seq. 
Chalice,  see  Eucharistic  Vessels. 
Chancels,  168. 
Chapels,  49,  182. 

in  the  catacombs,  26  seq.,  43  seq. 
Charta  cornutiana,  379. 
Chasuble  (casula),  396  seq. 
Cheetham,  22. 
Chlamys  (xXa^t/s),  399  seq. 
Choir,  168  seq. 

Churches,    in    general,    89  seq.;    see 
Basilica. 

Byzantine,  147  seq. 

round,  135  seq. ;  cf .  Contents,  p.  ix. 

individual,  see  under  Rome,  etc. 
Ciborium,  12:!,  167. 
Ginctus,  388. 
( 'ippus,  166;  see  Stele. 
Clavus,  369,  372,  392. 
Clearstory,  113. 

Clermont,  basilica  of  Namantius,  16. 
Cizmeterium,  23. 
Coins,  205,  240  seq. 
Collegia  tenuiorum,  60. 
Cologne,  cemetery,  41. 
Colonnade  in  front  of  altar,  170  seq. 


Color  of  textiles,  371,  373. 

Columns,  108. 

( 'oncha,  121  ;  see  Apse. 

( 'onfe88io,  50,  162  seq. 

Constantinian    monogram,   SJiJti   seq., 

299. 

Constantinople, 

Irene,  church  of,  150. 

ss.  Apostles,  132,  14.x,  150  seq. 

SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus,  138,  146. 

S.  Sophia.  15,  I32,152*eg.,  166, 168, 
170,  175. 
Contabulatio,  402  seq.,  407  seq.,  410 

seq. 
Cope  (cappa),  399,401. 
Cross,  representations  of,  236  seq. 

as  a  gesture,  237. 

dissimulated,  236. 
Cross-shaped  churches,  147  seq. 
Crown  (corona),  350,  351,353. 
Crucifixion,  176  seq. 
Cubieulum,  24  seq. 
Curtains,  377  seq. 

Dalmatia  and  Istria,  10. 
Dalmatic,  394  seq. 
Damasus,  15. 

inscriptions  of,  74  seq. 
Daniel,  208  seq. 
David,  212,  283. 

Decadence  of  art,  4  seq.,  188,  248. 
Dehio,  22. 
Depositio,  63. 
Diaconicon,  126,  128. 
Dittochseon,  16,  272. 
Dome,  86,  87;    and    cf.  Contents,  p. 

ix. 
Dominicum,  90. 
Doors,  114. 

of  S.  Sabina,  270  seq. 
Dove,  64,  303. 

Dress,  383;  cf.  Contents,  p.  xii. 
Duchesne,  14,  21. 
Dyeing,  369  seq. 

iyX€^Pl0v,  413. 

Egypt,  10. 

Elders,  the  four  and  twenty,  311. 

Elijah,  212,  299. 

England,  10. 

Entablature,  curved,  88. 

Etruscan  tombs,  42. 


IX  DFX 


429 


Eucharist,  43,  44,  46,  50,  51,  94  seq., 

105,  259,  317. 
Bucharistic  banquet,  223  seq. 

breads,  224,  340. 

vessels,  343  seq. 
Eusebius,  15. 
Evangelists,  285,  303. 
Ezekiel,212. 
Ezra  (Syria),  Church  of  S.  George,  144. 

Facade,  129. 

Farm,  351. 

Fenestella,  102. 

Ficker,  22. 

Fish  symbol,  230,  231,  232  seq. 

Flavian  gens,  65. 

de  Fleury,  21. 

Fons,  175. 

Forrer,  366. 

Fossores,  36. 

Fountain,  179  seq. 

Fractio  Panis,  227  seq. 

France,  10. 

Funeral  agape, 50  seq. 

Gabatha,  351. 

Galleries  of  churches,  112. 

of  catacombs,  24. 
Gammudia,  372. 
Garrucci,  21. 
Genre  subjects,  361. 
Germany,  10. 
Gesture  of  benediction,  260. 

of  consecration,  259. 

of  ordination,  259. 
Gethsemane,  281. 
Girdle,  390. 
Glass,  357. 

cut  and  engraved, 357. 
God  the  Father,  299. 
Gold  embroidery,  376. 
Gold-glass,  358  seq. 
Good  Shepherd,  214  seq.,  290,  331. 
Grado,  cathedral,  172. 
Graffitti,  on  glass,  357. 

on  plaster,  28. 

on  stone,  188,  247. 
Gregory  of  Tours,  16. 

Habakkuk,  209. 
Hand  of  God,  264. 
Hat,  386. 


Head-dress,  386  seq. 
Helpidius  Rusticus,  Hi. 
L'Heureux,  17. 
Kippolytus,  290. 
Holtzinger,  22. 
Holy  Ghost,  259,  303. 
Hood,  387,  398. 
Hortus,  48. 

House,  Greek  and  Roman  private,  '.17 
seq. 
Christian  private,  191. 
Hypogeum,  24,  43. 

Ichthus,  232. 

Iconostasis,  171,  382. 

Imola,  Martyrium  of  Cassianus,  16. 

Inhumation,  40. 

Inscription  of  Abercius,  2:54  seq. 

Inscriptions,  62  seq. 

of  Damasus,  74  seq. 
Isaac,  208. 

Istria,  see  Dalmatia. 
Italy,  10, 11. 
Itineraries,  12,  13. 

Ivories,  278,  279  seq. ;    cf.  Contents, 
p.  xi. 

Jacob,  283,  287. 
Jerusalem,  symbols  of,  314. 
Church  of  S.  Stephen,  140. 
Church  of  the  Ascension,  90,  142, 

310. 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  (An- 
astasis),  90,  141,  171,   177  seq., 
309  seq. 
Church  of  the  Martyrium,  90,  309 

seq. 
Church  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Valley 

of  Jehoshaphat,  143. 
Mosque  of  Omar,  142. 
Job,  267. 

John  the  Baptist,  285. 
Jonah,  206se<?.,290. 
Joseph,  287. 
Joshua.  323,  336. 
Judas,  278,  284. 

Junius  Bassus,  sarcophagus,  264  seq. 
Justinian,  319. 

Kalat-Seman  (Syria),  147  seq. 
Kraus,  21. 
KyHakon,  90. 


130 


INDEX 


Labarum,  240. 

Lacerna,  400. 

Lacunaria,  1 18. 

Lamb,  as  symbol  of  Christ,  266,  313. 

Lamps,  347  seq. 

S.  Laurence,  :;:'.1. 

Lazarus,  213. 

I. rail  objects,  :'.."iii. 

Legal  status  of  Christian  cemeteries, 

53  seq. 
Leggins,  388. 
Liber  Pontifiealis,  of  Ravenna,  14. 

of  Rome,  13  seq. 
Linteum,  410. 
Lives  of  the  Saints,  12. 
Livia  Primativa,  sarcophagus,  234. 
Locus  {loculus) ,  25. 
Loin-cloth,  see  Breech-cloth.. 
Lord's  Supper,  see  Eucharist. 
Lorum,  Byzantine,  403. 

Roman,  392. 
Luminarium,  32. 

Madaba  (Palestine),  floor  mosaic, 348. 

Mafortes,  380. 

Magi,  210  seq. 

Maniple,  412  seq. 

Mantele,  410. 

Manutergium,  411. 

Map  of  Jerusalem,  308. 

Mappa,  413. 

Mappula,  413. 

Marble  incrustation,  295. 

S.  Marcel  (France),  altar,  160. 

Martyrdom,  representations  of,  209. 

Martyrologies,  12. 

Martyrs,  27,  71  seq.,  78. 

Marucchi,  20. 

Mary  the  Virgin,  245  seq.,  320  seq. 

Medals,  3.54. 

Melchizedek,  317. 

Memoria,  13,  49. 

Metrical  inscriptions,  70. 

Milan,  SS.  Nazario  e  Celso,  148. 

Miniatures,  333    seq. ;    cf.    Contents. 

p.  xi. 
Miracles  of  Christ,  213  seq. 

of  Old  Testament,  198  seq. 
Mitre,  387. 
Monasterium.  184. 
Monogram,  Constantinian,  236  seq. 
Monza,  80. 


Mosaics,  lis  seq.,  292  seq.;  cf.  Con- 

tents,  p.  xi. 
Moses,  lmh;.  272,  283. 
Multiplication  of    loaves  and   fishes, 

214. 

Names.  64. 

Naples,  Basilica  Severiana,  165. 

Catacomb  of  S.  Gennaro,  24,  29. 
Narthex,  105,  107. 
Nicea,  church,  143. 
Niche,  136. 
Nile  key,  238. 
Noah,  20( i. 
Nodus,  402. 

Nola,  Church  of  S.  Felix,  16,  111,  147, 
164,  177,  179. 

lamps,  350. 

mosaics,  303. 
Northcote  and  Brownlow,  19. 
Nude  figures,  207  seq. 

cofAcxpopiov,  408. 

Opus  sectile,  119. 

Orans,  201  seq. 

Ovarium  (dipdpiov),  411. 

Orientation,  176  seq. 

Orle'ansville,  S.  Reparatus,  111,  126. 

Psenula  { tpaivb\y)s) ,  396  seq. 

Pagan  themes  in  Christian  art,  191. 

Palestine,  9. 

Palla,  407. 

Pallea,  380. 

Palliola,  163. 

Pallium,  403  seq. 

scarf,  407  seq. 
Paludamentum,  400. 
Parenzo,  cathedral  pavement,  295. 
Passion  of  Christ,  273. 
Paten,  see  Eucharistic  Vessels. 
Patenam  chrismalem,  347. 
Patibulum,  244. 
Paul,  251  seq.,  264,  268,  285. 
Paulinus  of  Nola,  16. 

Tyre,  177,  181. 
Paulus  Silentiarius,  14. 
Peperino,  31. 
Peribolos,  180. 
TrepLfafxa.,  388. 
Personification,  335,  338. 

of  the  Church,  296,  300,  305. 


IX  DUX 


4.31 


Perugia,  S.  A.ngelo,  1 10, 143. 

Petasus,  386. 

Peter,  206,  260  seq.,  268,  291. 

Peter's  wile's  mother,  283. 

Philocalian  catalogue,  60. 

Philocalus,  76. 

Phrygian  cap,  387. 

Pilate  259,  264,  265,  273. 

Pilgrimages,  79 

Pillars,  111. 

Pilleus,  387. 

Piper,  Ferdinand,  21. 

Piscina,  175. 

Pluviale,  401. 

Porto,  Xenodoclrium,  111,  148. 

Portogruaro,  cemetery,  41. 

Portraits  of  Christ,  214  seq.,  326. 

of  Peter  and  Paul,  251  seq. 

of  S.  Ambrose,  395. 
Portraiture,  250,  292. 
Pozzolana,  31. 

Prayers  to  and  for  the  dead,  72. 
Presbyterium,  121. 
Private  house,  decoration  of,  191. 
Procopius,  14. 
Prophets,  324,  330. 
Propylaon,  180. 
Prostas,  98. 
Prothesis,  125  seq. 
Prudentius,  15. 
Pulpit  (wvpyos),  see  Ambon. 
Purple,  371,  391 

Ramsay,  22. 
Ravenna,  churches, 
Basilica  Ursiana,  168. 
mausoleum  of  Galla  Placidia,  149, 

330  seq. 
mausoleum  of  Theodoric,  137. 
S.  Apollinare  in  Classe,  mosaics, 

118,  331,  333. 
S.  Apollinare  Nuovo,  110 ;  mosaics, 

324  seq. 
S.  Croce,  147. 

S.Giovanni  in  fonte  (Orthodox bap- 
tistery), 137  ;  mosaics,  160,  329. 
S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin  (Arian  bap- 
tistery), 137;  mosaics,  329. 
S.  Vitale,  112,  138,  145;  mosaics, 
315  seq. 
Refriyerium,  52. 
Relics,  79  seq.,  163. 


Rivers  of  paradise,  298,  300,  303. 
Pochette,  Raoul,  21. 
Roman  law,  protecting  tombs,  53. 
Rome,  cemeteries, 

Jewish,  42. 

Ostrianum,  27,  43. 

S.  Agnese,  48. 

S.  Callisto,  30,  54,  147. 

S.  Cyriaca  (S.  Lorenzo),  49,  81. 

S.  Domitilla,  50,  65  seq. 

S.  Felicitas,4S. 

S.  Hippolytus,  16. 

S.  Pancrazio,  81. 

SS.  Pietro  e  Marcellino,  81. 

S.  Priscilla,  44,  50,  55,  66  seq. 

S.  Sebastiano  {ad  catacumbas), 
23,  81. 

S.  Valentino,  29,49,  81. 

Vaticano,  40. 
Rome,  churches, 

Lateran  baptistery,  144,  147 ;  mo- 
saics, 301. 

S.  Agnese,  49,  113,  177. 

S.  Alessandro,  162. 

S.  Balbina,  172. 

S.  Cecilia,  97,  113. 

S.  Clemente,  168,  176. 

S.  Costanza,  143  seq. ;  mosaics,  297 
seq. 

S.  Georgio  in  Velabro,  162. 

S.  Giovanni  in  Laterano,  115,  124, 
168,176;  vessels, 346se(?. ;  lamps, 
350  seq . 

S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  169. 

S.  Maria  Maggiore,  109,  165,  176; 
mosaics,  301,  319  seq. 

S.  Pancrazio,  164. 

S.  Paolo,  109,  124,  165,  176  seq.; 
mosaics,  301,  319  seq. 

S.  Pietro  in  Vaticano,  109,  116, 124, 
147,  165  seq.,  171,  176  seq. ,  mo- 
saics, 300  seq.;  Eucbaristic  ves- 
sels, 346  seq. 

S.  Petronilla,  49,  113,  176. 

S.  Prassede,  81,  176. 

S.  Prisca,  (>7. 

S.  Pudenziana,  38,  176  :  mosaics, 
304  seq. 

S.  Sabina,  115,  170  seq.,  176;  doors, 
270  seq.;  mosaics,  295  seq. 

S.  Sebastiano,  49, 176. 

S.  Sinforosa,  111,  147,  164. 


!.:■_ 


INDEX 


Roue,  churches, 

s.  Stefano,  L40,  142  seq. 

s.  Valentino,  19,  L64. 

ss.   Cosma  e   Damiano,   115;  mo- 
saics, 311. 

SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  l">,  80. 

SS.  Nereo  ed    Achilleo    (8.   Petro- 
nilla),49,  113,  17ii. 
Roof,  113  seq. 
de  Rossi,  Giovanni  Battista,  12, 18  seq. 

M.  S.,36. 

Sacrament  Cliapels  (S.  Callistus), 
224. 

Sacraments,  see  Baptism  and  Euchar- 
ist. 

Sagum,  399  seq. 

Saints.  27,  71  seq.,  78  seq. 

Samaria,  church  at  Jacob's  Well,  149. 

Sandals,  388. 

Sarcophagus,  40,  249,  252  seq. 

Sceptre,  289. 

Schola,  94. 

Schultze,  Victor,  21. 

.Sculpture,  247  seq.  ;  cf.  Contents, 
p.  x. 

Scyphos,  347. 

Segmentum,  372,  392. 

Sestace,  413. 

Sheep,  symbols  of  the  faithful  and  of 
the  Apostles,  219  seq. 

Shoes,  388. 

Sicily,  11. 

Silk,  369. 

Simon  the  Cyrenean,  273. 

Sinus,  402. 

Solea,  388. 

Spain,  10. 

Statues,  168,  289  seq. 

Stele,  69;  see  Cippus. 

Stevenson,  20. 

Stole,  410  seq. 

Stucco,  294. 

Sudarium,  413. 

5 upp edaneum,  278 . 

Susanna,  210. 

Swastiea,  238. 

Symbolism.  193  seq.,  2.50. 

Symmetry,  253, 


Syracuse,   catacomb  "f  S.   Giovanni, 

11,  2:.. 
Syria,  Central,  9,  116,  130  seq. 

Tablinum,  100. 

Tapestry,  370  seq. ;  cf.  Contents,  p.  xii. 

Tuf/iiriniii.  4U. 

Textiles,  362  seq. ;  cf.  Contents,  p.  xii. 

Theodora,  319. 

Theodoric,  mausoleum,  137. 

Thessalonica,  S.  George,  136. 

Three  Children  of  Babylon,  210. 

Titles  (ecclesiastical),  37  seq. 

Titulus  (poetical),  15  seq.,  303. 

Tobias,  212,  298. 

Toga,  401  seq. 

Topographical  names  of   catacombs, 

55. 
Torcello,  cathedral,  172. 
Towers,  183  seq. 
Transenna,  164. 
Transept,  93,  124. 
Translation  of  relics,  81. 
Trench  tombs,  50. 
Treves,  cemetery,  10. 
Tribuna,  tribunal,  121. 
Triclinium,  51. 
Trinity,  259,  303. 
Trousers,  389. 
Tvfa,  31. 
Tunic  (tunica  talaris,  exomis,  cincta), 

390  seq. 
Tyre,  basilica,  177  seq.,  181. 

Yaison  (France),  altar,  160. 

Vasa  diatreta,  358. 

Vault,  86,  87. 

Veil,  387. 

Ventrale,  388. 

Vintage  scenes  —  vine  symbol,  254. 

Virgin,  see  Mary. 

Virgins,  consecrated,  247. 

de  Vogue,  116. 

Wedding  at  Cana,  227. 

Wilpert,  17. 

Windows,  113  seq. 

de  Winghe,  17. 

Worship  in  the  catacombs,  43  seq. 


Handbooks   of   Archaeology  and  Antiquities 

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